As Samajwadi Party battle rages, workers pray for peace

VARANASI: Scores of Samajwadi Party workers today performed a yagna at the famous Assi Ghat here, praying for an end to the tug of war between Akhilesh Yadav and his uncle Shivpal with barely weeks left for the crucial assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh.

The yagna was performed to "cool down" the heated infighting and to make Akhilesh chief minister again, the workers said.

The party men also prayed for the "long life" of SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Prayers were offered for keeping away "conspirators" and rival parties and "to foil their conspiracy" of breaking the party.