The MP, however, asserted that there were no differences in the party.
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An indication that the crisis in the SP lingered on came when Shivpal told Mulayam that despite following his orders he was being painted as a villain.
It was Shivpal who was Akhilesh’s local guardian in Saifai. Akhliesh’s fondness for Shivpal was “natural”. Akhilesh with his relatively modern and forward-looking worldview might now want to carve the SP according to his own lights whereas Shivpal and even MSY might still want to cling to the old ways of conducting politics.
Nearly a decade later, their relation started getting sour. I am now State chief. For the time being though, such an ugly fight, out in the open, may appear to be like a self-goal when the elections are a few months away.
As a effect of his father’s action of removing him from the party chief post, chief minister Akhilesh Yadav stripped his uncle, Shivpal Singh Yadav, of three key ministerial portfolios late on Tuesday, signalling growing fissures within Uttar Pradesh’s ruling Samajwadi Party ahead of next year’s assembly elections. “But there is a general perception in party workers, leaders and people about this”. Instead, Shivpal was given a far less lucrative social welfare ministry. Prajapati initially inducted as minister of state for irrigation in Akhilesh cabinet was later made the minister for mining, reportedly at the behest of the SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Shivpal, an ambitious politician, always thought he would carry forward Mulayam’s legacy.
Mulayam had appointed his brother as the state unit chief on Wednesday after his son sacked two ministers close to Shivpal the day before.
The situation did not change since then and the bitterness between them began often surfacing. When Shivpal began fielding candidates of his choice, Akhilesh turned angry. In 2016, he was able to avert the merger of mafia don Mukhtar Ansari’s Qaumi Ekta Dal with the Samajwadi Party and that proved to be the breaking point in his relations with his uncle.
The SP broke ties with QED. Indeed, he could hardly be wronged for having resisted but, eventually, in vain the re-induction of Amar Singh. He added that “I always talk with Netaji. There is a conspiracy against me”. Shivpal said officers were not listening to him.
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On the saffron party’s strategy for UP polls, Mr. Mishra said BJP was preparing itself right from booth level. He asked Akhilesh to take corrective measures. The CM, however, ended up sacking Prajapati and Raj Kishore Singh. “The leadership, though not deliberately, had made a mistake when CM was removed from the post of (state) president (of SP)”. In retaliation, Akhilesh stripped Shivpal of four key portfolios, striking a huge blow to his uncle’s public image.
