Despite the Election Commission announcing the Assembly poll dates for Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday, the political deadlock in Samajwadi Party continued, with no signs of rapprochement among the warring factions led by the father and the son.
While UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav revoked the removal of four SP district chiefs sacked by his uncle Shivpal Yadav, the Akhilesh-led faction declined to initiate fresh talks on Wednesday.
However, an emissary of Mulayam, Transport Minister Gayatri Prajapati met Akhilesh. Urban Development Minister Azam Khan too met Mulayam and Akhilesh. Though Azam was closeted with Mulayam for over an hour, the meeting yielded no result immediately. Incidentally, Azam was instrumental in revoking of the expulsion of Akhilesh and Ram Gopal on December 31.
“I spoke to Netaji. He’s positive and wants to resolve the issue. It is good that the father and son met on Tuesday and discussed several issues threadbare. I am hopeful that an amicable solution would soon be worked out,” Azam said after his meeting with Mulayam.
Meanwhile, Akhilesh called meeting of party MlAs at 10 am on Thursday to discuss poll strategy and his faction ruled out the possibility of a compromise, saying they would wait for the verdict of the EC on party symbol “cycle”.
Both Mulayam Singh Yadav and Ram Gopal Yadav, on behalf of Akhilesh, have staked claim before the EC on the party and party’s symbol.
Sources said Akhilesh’s camp is confident that the EC will rule in their favour as an overwhelming majority of party MlAs, MlCs, MPs and members of the National Executive and Central Parliamentary Board are with them.
They also claimed that there was no legal or any other flaw in organising the national convention which elected Akhilesh as the national president and expelled Amar Singh and sacked Shivpal from the post of State party president.
Several other leaders, including former Ministers Om Prakash Singh, Narad Rai, Ambika Choudhury, Raj Kishore Singh, Shadab Fatima and mafia don Atiq Ahmed also met Mulayam at his residence on Wednesday. Shivpal too was closeted with Mulayam for a couple of hours and both discussed the situation following the announcement of the poll schedule by the EC.
Meanwhile several Ministers from the old guard of the party talked to Mulayam on phone and reportedly expressed their regret over the present state of affairs in the party ahead of the crucial Assembly elections.
Pominent among the Ministers were Ram Govind Chowdhary, Paras Nath Yadav and Ahmed Hasan. Denial of ticket to Ram Govind Chowdhary in the list of 325 candidates announced by Mulayam in the last week of December had sparked off a fresh crisis in the party leading to the release of a parallel list of over 200 candidates by the UP Chief Minister on the same day.
Akhilesh’s cousin Badaun MP Dharmendra Yadav, who was widely expected to be made State president of the party also met Mulayam. He is said to be unhappy over the selection of Naresh Uttam by Akhilesh as the State president of the party.