Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Friday said he will have to start his campaign for the 2017 elections "without waiting for anyone", The Times of India reported. In an apparent reference to reports about a feud within the Samajwadi Party, the chief minister said he may have to launch his campaign on his own. Assembly elections will be held in he state in 2017.

Akhilesh Yadav said, "Bachpan mein, mera naam mujhe khud rakhna pada [When I was a child, there was no one to name me]. In the same way, I think I will have to start my election campaign on my own, without waiting for anyone." The chief minister also expressed his confidence about winning a second term. He said, "I am not being pompous. My unprecedented development work will ensure my return to power."

He also dismissed reports of a family feud and said, "As such, there is no family feud or crisis. Netaji [Samajwadi Party President Mulayam Singh Yadav] is my father and Shivpal Yadav is my uncle. This will never change, come what may." Shivpal Yadav has sacked many of Akhilesh's supporters who had protested against his appointment as state party chief.

Furthermore, Mulayam Singh Yadav on Friday said that Samajwadi Party's legislators will select the next chief minister of the state. "The elected legislators and the Samajwadi Party’s Parliamentary Board will pick the next Chief Minister," he said, according to IANS.

The alleged family feud was triggered by party president Mulayam Singh Yadav appointing his brother and Akhilesh's uncle, Shivpal Yadav, as the state party chief. The move didn't go down well with the chief minister, who then relieved his uncle of major portfolios in the state Cabinet. Mulayam Singh Yadav had to intervene to bring the situation under control.