Samajwadi Party, caught in a power struggle within its first family after the ouster of Mulayam Singh Yadav in January 2017, suffered a setback on Wednesday when Shivpal Singh Yadav, the warring uncle of party president Akhilesh Yadav, launched a new outfit, Samajwadi Secular Morcha, and said he would try to unite smaller parties under it.
Shivpal said he was forced to form a separate outfit as he was sidelined in the Samajwadi Party. Shivpal is a SP MlA from Jaswantnagar in Etawah district.
“My main aim will be to fight for the Samajwadi Party leaders neglected in the present situation and to unite smaller political parties,” he said here on Wednesday.
The announcement of the Morcha came a day after expelled SP leader Amar Singh claimed that he had set up a meeting between Shivpal and top BJP leaders, but it did not take place as Shivpal skipped the scheduled meeting.
Claiming that the Samajwadi Secular Morcha (SSM) would be a new political alternative in UP during the 2019 lok Sabha elections, Shivpal said that all smaller parties would be united under this new political umbrella.
“I am hurt by the insults heaped on me in the SP. I am not invited to any meeting. Besides, the insult to party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav has made the situation more serious for us,” he said.
Recently, Mulayam had expressed his anguish, saying that no one in the Samajwadi Party respected him and they might do so when he dies.
Shivpal said he had waited this long because he wanted the SP to stay united. He said there were many neglected workers in the SP and they would be assigned responsibilities and asked to strengthen our SSM, adding that he would try to unite backwards and smaller parties under the new outfit.
“I call upon all leaders in the SP who are not being given any importance and are being ignored to join the SSM,” Shivpal said, while ruling out any possibility of joining the Bharatiya Janata Party or supporting it in the future. “It is just a rumour that my new political outfit is just to help the BJP in the election,” he insisted, while refusing to comment whether he would contest the 2019 lok Sabha election.
Shivpal said that he had extensively toured the state and laid the ground for SSM at the district and even at tehsil levels. “Everywhere I went, the SP supporters and leaders annoyed with the present leadership gave me a rousing reception” he said.
The announcement of the new political front came after Mulayam and Shivpal had a long talk here on Tuesday during the meeting of the lohia Trust.