In a clear shift of the balance of power in the party, top Samajwadi Party leaders from the old guard, including Reoti Raman Singh and vice-president Kironmoy Nanda, attended the meet convened by Ramgopal Yadav and extended support to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. Party chief Mulayam Singh and State president Shivpal Yadav did not attend the meet as they had termed it “unconstitutional.”
Shortly after Mr. Ramgopal’s announcements, Mr. Akhilesh took the microphone asserting that he would act against anyone conspiring against the party or his father and declared that he was ready to sacrifice anything to preserve the family and party.
“Netaji will continue to be my father, I will be his son. Nobody can end that relationship. As my responsibility, I will step up to sacrifice anything to save the party or family,” he said, to loud cheers from hundreds of supporters.
In his short address, Mr. Akhilesh took potshots at his uncle Shivpal and Mr. Amar Singh, saying that “some elements do not want an SP government to be formed again.” As Mr. Mulayam’s son, Mr. Akhilesh asserted, it was his duty to stand up against those conspiring against him. “Those who have conspired against the party not only worked to harm it but also created a crisis for the national president. The entire State must know that I will now honour him more than I did before...Netaji will be the happiest if we form a full majority government,” the CM said.
Meanwhile, the SP parliamentary board, in a signal that there would be no rapprochement, approved the previously declared election candidates and said the remaining would be announced soon.
The family feud had acquired a new dimension on Saturday when Mr. Mulayam revoked the expulsions of his son and his cousin, a day after the two were sacked for indiscipline. Earlier on Saturday, Mr. Akhilesh had outmanouvred his father in a show of strength here as most of the 227 MLAs of the SP turned up at his meeting while Mr. Mulayam’s was attended by less than 20.
CM appoints new SP State president
Even as Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh termed Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav’s elevation as national president “illegal”, the junior Yadav stepped into action immediately after assuming the new role on Sunday, as he formally appointed a new State president displacing his uncle Shivpal Yadav.
In the course of the feud within the Samajwadi Party, Mr. Shivpal had a few months ago replaced Mr. Akhilesh as the State head.
Mr. Akhilesh has now appointed senior SP leader Naresh Uttam Patel from Fatehpur, who is a member of the State Legislative Council, as the new State chief.
Mr. Patel, who belongs to the Kurmi backward caste, served as State vice-president while Mr. Akhilesh was the State president.
Mr. Patel is one of the founding members of the SP but was sidelined by Mr. Shivpal, who sacked him as the State vice-president a few months ago as part of his clean-up of team Akhilesh from the party office-bearers list.
Mr. Patel is an LLB and has no criminal cases against him, providing Mr. Akhilesh somebody with a clean image to suit his goals of avoiding any controversy.
His name was proposed in the “emergency national convention” where Mr. Shivpal was declared “sacked.”
However, later in the evening Mr. Akhilesh issued a formal appointment letter too under the signature of “national president.”
Mr. Akhilesh instructed Mr. Patel to convene a session of the State executive board within seven days.
The letter was copied to all district presidents, former State presidents and the national office of the party in Delhi.
