A party constantly in strife

Samajwadi MLA Nitin Agrawal took on the Shivpal Yadav faction

A party constantly in strife

Strife within the Samajwadi Party (SP) never seems to end. A new salvo has been fired on behalf of Akhilesh Yadav. Last week in Kanpur, Samajwadi MLA from Hardoi and former minister Nitin Agrawal took on the Shivpal Yadav faction and said that some people in the party had stabbed the SP in the back and joined forces with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Without naming Shivpal Yadav, he said those people had held some of the most important portfolios in the SP government in Uttar Pradesh.  His remarks should be seen in the context of some members of the Assembly and council who belonged to the SP, crossing the floor and joining the BJP. One of them was Bukkal Nawab, founder president of the Rashtriya Shia Samaj, who had been an SP member since 1992 and was considered close to Mulayam Singh Yadav. Nawab offered to donate Rs 10 lakh towards the building of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.

Rahul snub made Nitish seal deal with BJP

Is it true that at their meeting on July 22, Congress Vice-president Rahul Gandhi turned down Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s request to make Tejashwi Yadav resign as deputy chief minister? Kumar wanted Yadav to quit and requested that his replacement be someone other than Lalu Prasad’s sons and daughters and definitely not Misa Bharti. Gandhi told Kumar that won’t happen. Kumar first tried to meet Congress President Sonia Gandhi, with whom he has a better rapport. But it is her son who is handling all party issues, so Kumar was referred to him. When Kumar realised his suggestion would not be complied with, he broke the alliance. The BJP was waiting with open arms.