I am sure Mulayam will campaign for us: Akhilesh

Seeking to downplay Mulayam Singh Yadav's outbursts over the alliance between Samajwadi Party and Congress, Akhilesh Yadav on Monday said he is "sure" that his father will take part in campaigning and will be "most happy" when SP is voted back to power.

"I am sure Mulayam Singh Yadav will campaign for us. He (Mulayam) will be most happy if Samajwadi Party comes to power in the state," the SP president said.

Akhilesh was addressing a series of public meetings in Etah, Jaithra, Patiyali and Kasganj.

Voicing displeasure over the alliance between Samajwadi Party and Congress, SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav on Sunday had said he would not campaign for it in the assembly polls.

"I am completely against the alliance. I will not campaign for it," Mulayam had said on a day his son and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi held their first joint press conference in Lucknow and held a road show displaying great bonhomie.

Mulayam, who had rejected the possibility of an alliance for the Assembly polls before being deposed as party president by Akhilesh, had said, "Congress ruled the country for a long time and made it laggard. We always fought against Congress."