The internal bickering within the Samajwadi Party in the aftermath of the party's rout in the Lok Sabha election in Uttar Pradesh was once again apparent on Friday.
While party legislators targeted Ministers under the SP Government for the poll debacle, SP general secretary Anuradha Choudhary quit the party blaming interference by Urban Development Minister Azam Khan and blamed his 'communal overtones' for the dismal poll performance of the party.
Reeling under the poll drubbing, in which the Samajwadi Party managed to win just five seats, party supremo Mulayam Singh on Friday held a review meeting with his party legislators who argued that the losses suffered by the party was primarily due to communal polarization in the State.
The MLAs, whose meeting was headed by UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, directly targetted ministers under Mr. Yadav's regime for the disastrous defeat.
The Ministers did not cooperate with them during elections, some legislators said in the 3 hour long meeting at the SP headquarters here.
Mr. Singh, who is overseeing an organization shuffle in the party after the dismal results of the Lok Sabha elections, reportedly lost his cool during the meeting and asked the legislators why they hadn't informed him of the issues earlier.
A television channel also reported that Mr. Singh while expressing his anger asked the legislators how they would now tackle the BJP and Narendra Modi in Parliament.
The SP has only five Lok Sabha seats, including two-Azamgarh and Mainpuri- won by Mr. Singh himself.
His daughter-in-law Dimple Yadav (Kannauj) and nephews Dharmendra Yadav (Badaun) and Akshay Yadav (Firozabad) won the other three.
"Dimple cannot speak, neither can Ramgopal's son Akshay Yadav. He is new to Parliament. Only Dharmendra Yadav and I have to take on Modi in Parliament," television channel NDTV quoted Mr. Singh as saying.
Some legislators suggested the party should work on improving the road, power and law and order situation in the State to win back the trust of the people.
Mr. Singh responded by telling the MLAs not to be disheartened by the poor results and dedicate themselves to public interest and work with honesty. In a bid to raise their spirits, Mr. Singh said the politics of "lies and trickery does not work often."
"Promote the developmental schemes of the SP government and warn the people against the tricks of the BJP," Mr. Singh said to his party legislators.
Meanwhile, senior leader Anuradha Choudhary quit the SP on Friday days after she was stripped of her Minister of State status. This came a day after the party dissolved its State unit and all frontal organizations and three days after 36 leaders having status of Minister of State in the SP government, including Ms. Choudhary, were sacked by Mr. Yadav.
Ms. Choudhary submitted her resignation letter to Mr. Singh and later talking to reporters alleged that Azam Khan was sabotaging the party works in western UP.
Training her guns at Mr. Khan, Ms. Chaudhary alleged that he was working against the interest of the party. "Even the party workers are afraid of him (Mr. Khan). He works on his whims," said Ms. Choudhary said, who was once a close aide of Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh.
She had joined the SP in 2012 and prior to that during the SP-RLD alliance government in 2003-07 also held the portfolio of Cabinet Minister for irrigation in UP.
