After party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav played the peacemaker, Akhilesh Yadav also took back Mining Minister Gayatri Prajapati, a Shivpal protege whom he had earlier sacked, sparking the crisis in the Samajwadi Party. A day after he was replaced, the chief minister stripped his uncle Shivpal of three key portfolios.
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Behind the current hostilities in the Yadav clan that rules the country’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, and the Samajwadi Party is a fierce tug of war between party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav – Netaji to his followers – and his chief minister son Akhilesh Yadav.
On Mulayam’s announcement of taking back controversial minister Prajapati, Akhilesh said, “It is my responsibility as a son to accept Netaji’s decision. I have told Netaji that if an outsider comes between us, he will be thrown out”.
Informed sources said that at a 15-minute one-on-one meeting at Mulayam Singh’s residence, Maulayam Singh tore up the resignation letter of Shivpal Yadav.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Friday demanded the “power to distribute party tickets” in the forthcoming assembly elections. Mulayam Singh Yadav’s decision to bring Amar Singh, the controversial political operator who was once his closest confidante, back to the party has only compounded the situation. “You must vent your anger before him in a disciplined manner”, he said. “I must have the right to select candidates as elections would be a test of my government and image”, Akhilesh Yadav told a TV news program.
His word was law, and willy-nilly the rank and file fell in line once he made his choice clear – whether it was the question of tying up with Kalyan Singh, which incidentally cost him dearly, or appointing Akhilesh as the chief minister superseding Shivpal and Azam Khan in 2012. “Na soeyengey, na soney denge (We won’t sleep, we won’t let others sleep)”, the crowd replied.
He added, “Every father and son faces issues…”
Disagreements between Akhilesh and his uncle have been reported on several occasions, including on the choice of official to be appointed as the state’s chief secretary after Alok Ranjan’s term ended, and the postponement of Qaumi Ekta Dal’s merger with Samajwadi Party.
Without Mulayam’s active intervention or a pro-active role, the party will split in the middle and Shivpal has the strength to launch his own outfit, an SP functionary said.
Ramgopal said that due to “simplicity” of Mulayam, “those who have nothing to do with party interest are able to take benefit”. Making it clear that Akhilesh and Shivpal can not survive for long in one outfit, an SP functionary said, “Ek mayan mein doh talwar nahi rahe sakta”. Mulayam Singh Yadav looked haggard and visibly defeated when he repeated the same statement six times in a row.
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Meanwhile, social media enthusiast Aditya Yadav who is not only on the IFFCO Board but also on that of International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) has appealed to his followers to remain calm and not to harm one another. Some decisions, he (CM) said, he has taken himself.
