The HotSpot spoke to the Samajwadi Party President, Akhilesh Yadav one day after 7 MLAs of his party in UP Assembly cross voted for a BJP candidate. During the course of the interview UP’s ex-chief minister candidly admitted that his alliance partner, the Congress suffered poor cadre strength. He said “the SP agreed to give 17 Lok sabha seats to the congress to maintain the ally’s stature.” Speaking on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s attack on actor Aishwarya Rai ( who is SP Rajya Sabha member Jaya Bachchan’s daughter-in-law), Yadav said he will ask Rahul Gandhi to refrain from making such comments and uphold dignity of women. He explained his strategy for the coming LS polls and dismissed the departure of allies like RLD’s Jayant Chaudhary.