Mulayam defends Akhilesh, says no one responsible for SP's defeat

Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav on Sunday defended his son Akhilesh Yadav after the party's humiliating loss in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, saying "no one person is responsible for the defeat".

"No one person is responsible for the defeat. We failed to convince voters," Mulayam, who was ousted by Akhilesh as party chief after the power tussle in the family, told reporters in Uttar Pradesh's Etwah.

"Everyone is responsible for the loss. A single person cannot be blamed," he said on arriving at Saifai, his native village, for Holi.

"It was people's inclination towards the Bharatiya Janata Party as it has made a lot of promises. Let us see how many promises they fulfill," Mulayam said.

• No threat to Akhilesh's leadership in SP

Mulayam's brother Shivpal, who had fallen out with Akhilesh ahead of the polls, had earlier in the day said the party would analyse the reasons behind its poor performance in the polls.

"In politics, you win and lose. The SP has its orgins in struggle and we will struggle again and win," he said.

The BJP emerged as the single largest party in Uttar Pradesh with 312 seats while its allies Apna Dal (Soneylal Patel) and Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party bagged nine and four seats respectively.

The Samajwadi Party was relegated to a distant second with 47 seats and its ally, the Congress won seven seats.

• 5 state assembly elections 2017