Piqued over the expulsion of his three confident youth leaders for anti party activities in Panchayat elections, UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav stayed away from the Saifai festival. On Sundayhe also skipped the inauguration of the Indian Gramin cricket league (IGCl) tournament in Saifai on Sunday.
IGCl, launched in April this year is the pet project of the chief minister to promote the game in rural areas of the state and connect the youth with the Samajwadi party. Chief Minister was to inaugurate the Saifai festival on Saturday. In his absence his father and the Samajwadi party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav formally inaugurated the festival. The festival will conclude onJanuary 11.
Samajwadi Party spokesman and political pension minister Rajenddra Chowdhary however said ``there is no discord within the party leadership over the selection of candidates of candidates for the Panchyat elections and disciplinary action against some leaders so there is no question of the Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, unhappy over the expulsion of some party leaders’’. Chowdhary added `` UP is a big state and the chief minister is preoccupied with administrative works already scheduled and he will visit the festival as soon as he finds time’’.
Dharmendra Yadav, MP and chairman of the Festival organizing committee also denied that CM was unhappy. `` He is busy in official work in lucknow and he may come any day as the festival will last till January 11’’, said the MP, who is cousin of the Chief minister.
Akhilesh Yadav had inaugurated the IGCl in lucknow onApril 5 this year. He had said that the state government was making efforts to take forward village and city simultaneously. The events like IGCl will help talent at village, town and district level and will help in getting recognition at state level. He had also said that instead of organising events like IPl or any other higher level cricket tournament, the government was working to bring youths of rural areas, who were lagging behind. Appreciating IGCl, he had said that it would develop sporting spirit in rural areas.
The SP’s general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav with the consent of party chief Mul;ayam Singh Yadav had announced the expulsion of the three leaders Sunil Yadav, Anand Bhaduria and Subodh Yadav on Friday for their alleged anti party activities. These leaders had opposed the official candidates of the party for the post of chairman of the district panchyat.
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, also the state president of the Samajwadi party was not kept in the loop in this decision. The three leaders are said to be the blue eyed boys of the chief minister. Akhilesh Yadav ever since taking over as the state president of the state unit of the Samajwadi party in June 2009 had groomed the three leaders and were members of his core team. These leaders had played a key role in election campaign ahead of the February 2012 state assembly elections. The SP for the first time in its history had captured power in the state on its own by winning 224 seats out of total 403 in UP assembly.