A day after Shivpal Yadav praised the government headed by his nephew, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav struck a conciliatory note by saying that Mulayam Singh Yadav may be the Samajwadi Party chief but he was also his father, indicating that his wish will prevail on political issues particularly the vexed ones.
The opinion within the Samajwadi Party is divided as to what forced senior minister Shivpal Yadav to precipitate the situation forcing party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav to do some tough talk with his CM son Akhilesh Yadav.
``let’s bury the hatchet. Everybody has fallen in line and the cease fire will hold at least till the end of the 2017 Asembly polls. Both the CM and his uncle Shivpal Yadav have categorically stated that the wish of Mulayam Singh Yadav will prevail on issues like merger, alliance and important issues. This being the election time and given the challenges posed by the BJP and other parties, we can not afford the luxury of washing dirty linen in public’’ said a senior SP leader.
``No inferences should be drawn from the absence of Shivpal Yadav from the meeting of the cabinet here on Wednesday. He was in Moradabad to attend a pre-scheduled programme of distribution of Kanya Dhan,’’ said a minister. On his part, Shivpal Yadav also said in Moradabad that he had come to the city after seeking leave from the Chief Minister.
The surveys so far conducted by Samajwadi Party have indicated that the party needs to shore up its electoral support by at least 5-6 percent to reach the target of polling which is close to 32 per cent. ``Right now we are stuck at 25-26 per cent. In 2012, the party had polled little over 29 per cent and we got 224 seats. This time around, without the added three percent, it will be difficult to stop the resurgent BJP,’’said a SP leader.
Samajwadi party sources also said is time is running for an alliance with Ajit Singh-led Rashtriya lok Dal (RlD) . If the party delays the process with RlD any further, then Ajit Singh is likely to join hands either with the Congress or the BJP.
At the initiative of Shivpal Yadav, talks were initiated with Ajit Singh in May last and the Jat leader held several parleys with party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav -- but nothing materialised. Ajit Singh had then insisted for SP support to his candidature in the Rajya Sabha polls.