The marathon meeting between Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and his father Mulayam Singh Yadav to break the deadlock in the Samajwadi Party, that is facing a split, remained inconclusive on Tuesday.
This was the first meeting between Akhilesh and his father after the January 1 emergency national convention of the SP, where the Chief Minister was elected as the national president of the party while Mulayam was elevated as the ‘marg darshak’ of the party.
That the meeting failed to break the ice was evident from the fact that Mulayam asked Amar Singh to submit a fresh memorandum to the Election Commission on Wednesday saying that the January 1 national convention was “illegal” and “unconstitutional” since it was called without his prior approval despite the fact that he was present in lucknow on that day.
Mulayam said that it must be conveyed to the EC that the memorandum should be treated as submitted by him, the national president of the party.
Tuesday’s two-hour-long one on one meeting took place after Mulayam arrived in lucknow from New Delhi in the morning and Akhilesh reached his father’s residence on Vikramaditya Marg soon after. later, Shivpal Yadav and Transport Minister Gayatri Prajapati also joined the meeting.
Sources said the meeting between the father and the son focussed on who would have the final say in the distribution of tickets for the Assembly elections, the future of Amar Singh and the role of Shivpal Yadav, who was ousted from the post of SP State president on January 1.
According to sources Akhilesh wanted a fresh list of candidates to be issued by the party and stressed that only he and Mulayam should have a say in distribution of tickets.
Akhilesh also insisted on the expulsion of Amar Singh from the party and ouster of his uncle Shivpal from the UP affairs of the SP.
SP sources said Akhilesh was also willing to step down from the post of national president of the party provided his conditions on Amar Singh and Shivpal Yadav were met. However Mulayam appeared reluctant to relent and take the battle to the bitter end.
SP sources said that time was running out for the party and if the contentious issues that led to the national convention on January 1 and subsequent developments were not resolved soon then big trouble was in store.
“The EC can announce the poll schedule for the UP Assembly elections any day and if that is announced then the poll panel will hear the dispute in the party only after the polls and in the meantime both the name and the poll symbol of the party could be frozen by the commission,’’ said a senior SP leader.
Sources close to the CM said a senior SP leader and member of Rajya Sabha met Akhilesh and expressed concern over the prospects of the party losing the election symbol ahead of the crucial elections.
The CM’s camp is weighing all options before it. “It will not only be difficult but amount to political hara-kiri for Akhilesh to retreat from the position he has already taken on January 1, which was widely endorsed by the rank and file of the party,’’ sources said. Another round of negotiations is likely to be held on Wednesday, sources added.
Meanwhile, Ram Gopal Yadav ruled out the possibility of a compromise saying, “No compromise will be made in the SP and we will fight the UP elections under the leadership of Akhilesh’’.
Meanwhile, even as Mulayam, is struggling hard to regain the control of the party, most of his trusted colleagues, whom he had groomed in the last three decades, have deserted him and joined Akhilesh’s camp.
In his home town the common people and the members of his extended family are overwhelmingly supporting Akhilesh. They say it’s time for Mulayam to hand over the mantle of the party to his son and act as his guide.
Kironmoy Nanda, the vice-president of the party and Rajya Sabha MP, who owes his existence in politics to Mulayam extended the most crucial help to Akhilesh in providing legal validity to the national delegate convention here on January 1. As national vice-president of the party he presided over the convention in the absence of the national president as per the constitution of the party.
Others supporting Akhilesh are Ahmed Hasan, Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya, Rajendra Chowdhary, Ram Govind Chowdhary, Balram Yadav, Brahma Shankar Tripathi, Durga Prasad Yadav, Avadesh Prasad and Reoti Raman Singh.