Though the resignation has not yet been accepted, the battle lines seem clearly drawn as Samajwadi Party (SP) chief, Mulayam Singh Yadav’s cousin, Ram Gopal Yadav, has thrown his weight behind Akhilesh.
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Hundreds of supporters of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav today reached the party office demanding his reinstatement as the state president.
Shivpal further said that for him an indication of Mulayam Singh Yadav was an order and he would go by the party chief’s decision in any situation. The SP supremo said his son and chief minister Akhilesh will not defy his words and announced that sacked mining minister Gayatri Prajapati will be taken back in the UP Cabinet, considered a bone of contention between Shivpal and Akhilesh.
“I am ready to return party posts and even portfolios but I must have the power to distribute tickets because the forthcoming poll is after all a test for me and my party”, Akhilesh told India TV.
Akhilesh’s uncle Shivpal, however, gave conflicting signals.
Senior SP leader Shivpal Yadav, however, defended Singh saying the party is strengthened by taking everyone along.
Defending Amar Singh who has been criticised over his alleged role in the feud between Shivpal and Akhilesh, he said, “His name should not have been taken”. I have got a bigger responsibility.
“Anyone sitting on the chair of the Chief Minster should not develop an ego”.
Though Akhilesh has been working hard to reinvent SP’s image as a youth friendly and development oriented party, he still needs a Shivpal to organise the party cadre, implement party’s policies, and more importantly convert goodwill into votes. And the youngest of the Yadav brothers, Shivpal had been working with Mulayam Singh Yadav for decades.
The protesting supporters said Shivpal should be retained as the state president and that he was humiliated by the Chief Minister. “Could he have said no to Netaji“, Mr. Ramgopal asked, adding that he would urge his nephew to speak to the party boss to end the impasse. Mulayam first held a close door meeting with Shivpal before calling upon his son. “I have conveyed my views to Netaji“.
“If Rahul Gandhi had said that Akhilesh is a good leader then I would have also said he (Rahul) is a good leader”. Akhilesh needs to gain experience. Congress Party Vice President Rahul Gandhi said that Akhilesh was finally getting rid of the damaged tyres in his cycle (the SP symbol), but that he had left it too late. He can never cause any harm to our family. One has to apply his mind also.
However, the Chief Minister made it clear that he wanted a say in the distribution of tickets in the elections. The Samajwadi party leaders and candidates, all in preparation for a very hard election, were aghast at the turn of events.
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A anxious Mulayam Singh – who for years has run the party like a personal fiefdom – was engaged in thrashing out an amicable solution to the biggest crisis of his personal life and political career, colleagues said.
