Even as former State Samajwadi Party chief Shivpal Yadav met Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav in lucknow on Friday, the impasse in the ruling party showed no sign of ending.
This was the first one-on-one meeting between the uncle and the nephew after Akhilesh was elected as national SP president and Shivpal was dismissed from the post of State SP chief.
Shivpal held talks with Akhilesh at the CM’s official residence first to thrash out a “compromise formula” and then met his brother and patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Indications of a patch-up emerged on Thursday night when Akhilesh decided to receive his father at Amausi airport. However, he abandoned the idea upon learning that Amar Singh had accompanied his father on the chartered flight.
But late on Thursday night Akhilesh did attend a family meeting between Mulayam’s apolitical brothers from Etawah who met the SP patriarch
in a bid to end the strife in the family. A senior SP leader said, “The stalemate would have ended on Thursday itself, but Amar Singh’s arrival with Mulayam threw a spanner in the works. Singh deliberately came to lucknow as he had got wind that Mulayam would endorse his expulsion.’’
Party sources said the Akhilesh camp was adamant that no compromise was possible without the dismissal of Amar Singh from the SP and the exit of Shivpal from State affairs.
Meanwhile, SP MP Amar Singh, whose return to the party recently after six years was one of the reasons for the discord between Mulayam and Akhilesh, said he was in favour of a patch-up between the father and the son and that he was not a “hurdle” in the path of the Chief Minister.
However, Singh took a jibe at the CM, saying that several Ministers and MlAs like Ansari brothers, who were tainted till they were with Shivpal, had become angels after affirming their support to Akhilesh.
Alleging that the Akhilesh camp had humiliated Netaji, he said, “A concerted campaign is underway to humiliate Mulayam which should be ceased forthwith. Today Akhilesh is not only against his dharm pita Shivpal but also against his biological father Mulayam, who is lonely and powerless at the top.’’
Rebutting the charge that he was behind the SP feud, Singh said, “I have come to lucknow for reconciliation in the family not for breaking it.”
The meetings Shivpal had with Akhilesh and later with Mulayam on Friday morning reflected hectic behind-the-scene negotiations as the Akhilesh camp prepared to hand over documents to the EC to claim that it was the “real” SP.
Akhilesh’s supporter uncle Ram Gopal Yadav claimed they have collected signatures of 212 of the 229 MlAs, 56 of the 68 MlCs, 15 of the 24 MPs and a majority of the 5,000 delegates, “making it crystal clear as to which was the real SP”.
SP sources said that Amar Singh has offered to step down from the post of general secretary while Shivpal has also agreed to move to Delhi. Yet there seems to be no solution in sight on the issue of party’s national president’s post, which Akhilesh wrested from his father on January 1.
Sources said Akhilesh could be authorised to select candidates for the Assembly polls as per the truce but Mulayam is not ready to part with his authority over the party as national president. Besides, he is also opposed to Ram Gopal and Akhilesh’s close ties.
Meanwhile the Akhilesh camp is smelling blood and is in no mood to compromise.
“What sort of compromise are you talking ofIJ Some people are deliberately spreading rumours of a compromise as all issues have already been decided. So where is the need for any compromiseIJ Akhilesh is the national SP president and Mulayam is the patron and guardian. The national president will decide on distribution of tickets for the Assembly elections,’’ said MlC Sunil Yadav MlC, a key member of Team Akhilesh.
“We are not baying for Amar Singh’s resignation as he has already been expelled from the party. If he wants to resign then he could resign from the Rajya Sabha. There is no dispute over State president’s post too as the national SP chief has already appointed Naresh Uttam as State chief,’’ Yadav added.
Akhilesh strengthened his grip on the party as on a request from his camp, all bank accounts of the party in lucknow, Delhi and Etawah were frozen by banks. This would effectively prevent the faction led by Mulayam from withdrawing funds from the accounts.
The move is significant as SP has nearly Rs 500 crore in its accounts in different banks and both factions will need funds to contest the upcoming Assembly polls.