The feud within Samajwadi Party's first family refuses to die down with Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav dropping enough hints that he would not attend the October 22 state executive meet as well as the party's Silver Jubilee Foundation Day function slated for November 5.
"I cannot say at this point of time whether I will attend the November 5 function or not. let’s see,” said Yadav when reporters persisted with the querry on whether he would attend the meet at the sidelines of a function where the CM distributed ration cards to beneficiaries of Food Security Act in lucknow on Wednesday.
However, the CM did not ascribe any reason for not attending the silver jubilee celebration. When asked about the possibility of his attending the state SP executive meet on October 22, Akhilesh querried : "Does any one attend these meetings."
The CM's statement came a day after members of Samajwadi Chaatra Sabha declared that they would boycott theNovember 5 function unless Akhilesh was reinstated asa the state chief of the party.
Expelled Samajwadi Chaatra Sabha chief Digvijay Singh Dev went on record saying that Akhilesh Yadav was their leader.
“It is Akhilesh Yadav, who stood by the youth when police unleashed terror against them during Mayawati’s regime. Akhilesh Yadav bore the brunt of lathis and water cannon with us. Now when he is being discredited, how can the youth tolerate this,” Singh Dev said.
The state chiefs of all frontals outfits like Samajwadi Chhatra Sabha, Samajwadi Yuvjan Sabha and Mulayam Singh Youth Brigade have were expelled for alleged anti-party activities by new state SP chief Shivpal Yadav. Incidentally, all these leaders are considered close to the Chief Minister.
Rumours havebeen doing the rounds that the CM could skip both the Foundation Day function and state executive meet due to his differences with SP chief Muayam Singh Yadav. Interestingly, the CM was not even made an invitee to the state executive meeting and his supporters hence feel that there was no justification in his attending the meet.
later on Wednesday, the CM held a meeting with SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav for more than an hour, but the outcome was not known.
People close to Akhilesh Singh said that the next few days are very crucial for UP politics. "The Samajwadi Party will have to revoke the expulsions of youth leaders failing which Akhilesh may take some harsh decisions," a senior SP leader told 'The Pioneer'.