Lucknow, Mar. 14 : Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav has submitted his reply to the Election Commission after being noticed for distributing cash at a ''Holi Milan'' function at his native Saifai village.

"I have submitted the reply to the EC before the expiry of the deadline. We were asked to submit our reply by March 14, but we did it a day in advance. I am confident that the Commission will be satisfied with it," he said.

The former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, who defended cash distribution as part of an age-old tradition, did not elaborate on the contents of his reply to the EC notice for alleged violation of poll code.

"You will come to know about the content of my reply from the Election Commission itself. Don''t force (me) to divulge the content at this juncture," he said.

Yadav said giving reward during Holi festival was customary for him, but TV channels were creating "unnecessary controversy" on the issue.

"But I am very thankful that this has brought the SP at the centre of discussion. For a political party, charcha (discussion), kharcha (expenditure) and parcha (newspapers) are very important. A leader cannot survive without these three things. I am happy that SP is in discussion due to all this controversy," Yadav added. (ANI)