Shivpal Yadav, the warring uncle of the Samajwadi party president Akhilesh Yadav has finally conceded ground to the nephew saying that Akhilesh Yadav is the president of the party and it is on him to steer the party and take it forward.
Shivpal Yadav, the former president of the party’s UP unit, said, “The party is now in the hands of Akhilesh Yadav and it is completely his discretion as to how he plans to take it ahead.” The Samajwadi Party on Monday had released a list of its 55-member national executive, with its chief as Akhilesh Yadav but the names of veterans Mulayam Singh Yadav and Shivpal Singh Yadav were missing from it.
Shivpal Yadav was in Kanpur on Wednesday. When asked about his future in the party as he failed to get a berth in the national executive, he refrained from commenting on his political future.
“I have nothing much to say about my future. The national executive of the party has been constituted and I am an MlA and have more than four years of it left as of now. I will continue to do my job. I have a long innings ahead of me and would only take a decision after proper consultation with my supporters.”, said the SP leader. He however hastened to add Rs Rs I will abide by the direction of Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav) in future’’.
It was widely expected that Shivpal Yadav will be accommodated as the national general secretary in the party following the reconciliation measures taken by Mulayam Singh Yadav. The hopes were dashed as in the list of its 55-member national executive, names of veterans Mulayam Singh Yadav and Shivpal Singh Yadav were missing from it.
There was suspense as to whether party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav will remain its patron. SP spokesperson Rajendra Chowdhury said he was not aware of any such post in the party.
The chacha-bhateeja fell out last year ahead of the UP Assembly polls. Amid souring family ties, Akhilesh Yadav convened an emergency meeting of the national convention on the New Year’s Day to replace father Mulayam Singh Yadav as the national president of the Samajwadi Party. During this prolonged family feud, Mulayam Singh Yadav has been backing brother Shivpal. But at the same time, Akhilesh has, if anything, cemented his position in the party, while the patriarch has held on to his brother.
That has left little space for Shivpal to maneuver an independent political line for himself — both within and outside of SP. In a party cloistered around a family and stilted by a dominant and upwardly mobile caste group, any attempt to challenge the patriarch to form a separate outfit is fraught with immense risk.
Shivpal Yadav, despite being completely marginalized has therefore waited for the right moment and opportunity to strike back. At the SP national convention, Akhilesh Yadav by amending the party constitution has closed all exit routes for the beleaguered uncle. If Shivpal Yadav rebels against the party then he runs the risk of losing the membership of the state assembly.
On the performance of the Yogi Adityanath government, he said, “The people of UP must be repenting for their decision to give such a huge mandate to the BJP. He said the people are watching the performance of the BJP government and will respond at the right moment.
