Senior Samajwadi Party leader and PWD Minister Shivpal Yadav skipped the Cabinet expansion on Monday giving grist to rumour mills about the deepening rift within the SP’s first family.
Early in the day, Shivpal Singh Yadav was in Etawah and reached lucknow by noon. Question being asked as to why he chose to stay away from the swearing in ceremony which was attended by Mulayam Singh Yadav and Prof Ram Gopal Yadav.
The SP brass downplayed the issue saying it was nothing unusual for a leader to skip a ceremony. SP general secretary and spokesperson Ram Gopal Yadav said: “What’s the big deal if a person does not attend the oath ceremony. I did not attend a couple of ceremonies myself but no one made it an issue.”
SP Rajya Sabha member Amar Singh too refused to speak on the issue. “There is nothing wrong in the Yadav family. You are looking for some masala. I am sorry you will not find it here,” he said adding: “I am happy that sacked minister Balram Yadav has been re-inducted into the ministry”.
Despite clarifications from senior SP leaders, party workers found something amiss in Shivpal Yadav giving the ceremony a miss. They maintained that the leader did not have a any major event lined up in Etawah.
People close to Shivpal vouched that he might be angry over the party leadership’s decision to scrap the QED merger with the SP.
They offered that earlier too, the party had made a fool out of Shivpal when it snapped ties with the Grand Alliance in Bihar after he had attended the joint rally and assured all support to the JD (U) and the RJD.
Interestingly, another senior minister Md Azam Khan too, stayed away from the cabinet expansion. The function was however attended by his bete noir Amar Singh.