Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav is set to float a new political party. The outburst of the long suppressed sentiments of Mulayam Singh in Mainpuri is indicative that the veteran politician has decided his future course of action and was not ready to be a mute spectator to the steady erosion of his status in UP politics.
Mulayam‘s younger brother Shivpal Yadav is likely to be the principal driving force behind the new political enterprise of Mulayam Singh.
Yadav Senior has also started consulting his senior colleagues and sounded his trusted lieutenants in several districts. On Saturday, Mulayam Singh met Rajya Saba MPs and senior MlAs of the party.
“Pani ab sar ke upar jaa chukaa hai (things have gone beyond the limit of tolerance) said a Rajya Sabha MP, close to Mulayam Singh.
“At the ripe age of 80 years, Netaji had to go to Mainpuri by road and return the same day. Is the Samajwadi Party so poor that it cannot provide a helicopter to him even as several hundred crores are lying in the coffers of the party,’’ the senior SP leader sought to know.
listing the reasons as to why the feud in Samajwadi Party reached the point of no return, the leader said, “The dispute in Samajwadi Party is more of a family dispute than a political problem as the party is a `family controlled institution’, where all the posts are held by family members. Had it been political in nature, it could have been resolved long ago.’’
“Akhilesh had promised to restore Mulayam Singh as party chief after Assembly poll. Far from honouring his word, Akhilesh is not only strengthening his grip over the party by packing organisational posts with loyalists, he also amended the party constitution for enhancing tenure of national president from three years to five,’’ said the SP leader.
“Shivpal Yadav and his son Aditya and Mulayam Singh’s second son Prateek Yadav and his wife Aparna Yadav have no future in Samajwadi Party led by Akhilesh Yadav. Mulayam, Shivpal and their loyalists have only two options—either to gradually fade into oblivion or fight back to regain their name in UP politics. By fighting back, Mulayam can force Akhilesh to negotiate on his terms,” the leader opined.
The SP leader also pointed out, “The BJP wants the Samajwadi Party to remain in a limbo so that their unchallenged reign in the state could continue. Nobody is naive in politics. Yogi Adityanath has not completed even two weeks in office. But ignoring pressing issues, he found time to visit `Kanha Upvan’ managed by Aparna Yadav and her husband. Earlier too, he had the time to meet Aparna.’’
“In fact, Yogi Adityanath is only sending confusing signals about the SP which is yet to recover from its decimation in recent state Assembly elections,’’ he excplained.
SP sources claimed that Akhilesh Yadav was willing to accommodate Mulayam Singh but not the whole baggage with him including second wife Sadhna Gupta, her son and Pratkeek, his wife Aparna, vetarns Amar Singh and Shivpal Yadav.
“Akhilesh firmly believes that Mulayam’s extra baggage is detrimental to interests of the party, particularly Amar Singh. Akhilesh considers him to be a pawn in the hands of BJP who is out to destroy the party. The way Shivpal egged on Mulayam Singh on December 31 last year to announce expulsion of Akhilesh Yadav from the party has created such a wide wedge between the uncle and nephew that it seems impossible to be filled,” sources said.