Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Singh Yadav was in Mumbai on Thursday for the one-day UP Conclave to promote Brand UP and garner investment worth Rs 50,000 crore from potential investors in Maximum City. He was accompanied by his cabinet ministers and top state officials, and the daylong jamboree, held in Mumbais Trident hotel, was an impressive affair by all means.


No issues there, but what caught our eye was the presence of Asaduddin Owaisi, president of the All India Majlis e Ittehadul Muslimeen and the partys Lok Sabha MP from Hyderabad, who was checking out of the Trident on Thursday evening.


For those who came in late, Owaisi, who is keen to project himself as the voice of the Muslim community, has found the UP government led by the Samajwadi Party unwilling to let him hold rallies in the state. He had told Rediff.com recently: UP is not the personal fiefdom of the Yadav clan. It is a part and parcel of our great nation called India.

"It is really pitiful that I can speak in Parliament but I cannot speak in UP against the Samajwadi Party's communalism.

"They cannot stop me because it is my democratic right. I will definitely go to UP and put forward my views. Whether people like me or not is up to them."

So did Akhilesh Yadav and Owaisi manage to meet up while at the Trident, Mumbai, and sort out their differences? Watch this space!

In the meantime you can read our interviews with Owaisi here and here.


Pic: Asaduddin Owaisi coming out of the Trident hotel in Mumbai on Thursday evening.