As the long brewing family war in the Samajwadi Party spilled into the public domain, party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav stepped swiftly in on Wednesday to appease both his brother, Shivpal Yadav, and son and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav: with key State elections slated for early 2017, it was imperative for the party patriarch to try and broker peace, lest it send confusing signals to party cadres and supporters.
The first compromise formula that was reportedly considered was that Mr. Shivpal Yadav would remain U.P. chief and that the party constitution could be amended to make it possible for Mr. Akhilesh Yadav to be made National Working President. But Mr. Shivpal Yadav, party sources said, is willing to forgo the position of SP State chief provided he gets back the three ministerial portfolios he held earlier – that included revenue and PWD. Now Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav will have to put this to his son who, political observers say, has emerged stronger from this crisis. It is also learnt that a meeting of the parliamentary board will be held at some point to sort out all organisational matters.
All this comes in the wake of a series of dramatic events: on Tuesday, Mr. Akhilesh Yadav sacked two of his Ministers, believed to be close to Mr. Shivpal; on Wednesday, Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav appointed his brother as UP SP chief, replacing his son in the job, and Mr. Akhilesh retaliated by divesting his uncle of three key portfolios.
U.P. CM terms it a governance issue
On Wednesday, the action in the Samajwadi Party (SP) feud shifted to the national capital with an angry Shivpal Yadav flying in to confabulate with party patriarch Mulayam Singh.
After a meeting that lasted over three hours at Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Ashoka Road residence, Mr. Shivpal emerged beaming.
Later, at a hastily convened press conference at the U.P. Sadan, he said, “I am still in government.. I will do whatever Netaji (Mulayam Singh) asks me to do.”
Asked about his key portfolios being taken away, he smiled: “Well, I am now State chief..my only goal is that we should win the elections in 2017.”
Pressed further on a diminished role in the Union Cabinet, a still conciliatory Shivpal Yadav said, “Mulayam Singh is the mukhia (leader); Akhikesh is the CM.”
Programmes cancelled Meanwhile, in Lucknow, U.P. Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, “cancelled” all official programmes for the day including one event at the Hindi Sansthan and another at his official residence. He explained the controversy as “a tussle in the government, not the family,” adding that he had taken “only some” of the decisions while most had been taken after consulting the party supremo.
“If I have taken any decision, it was in consultation with ‘netaji’ but at times one has to apply his own mind and I too took some decisions on my own,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Shivpal Yadav met supporters at his residence in Saifai.
