Akhilesh emerges unrivalled in SP, party feud ends

Over 200 of 229 Samajwadi Party legislators attended a meeting called by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday morning in Lucknow. A couple of kilometers away, only 20 legislators attended the meeting called by party chief and his father, Mulayam Singh Yadav.

The writing was on the wall for Mulayam and his brother, party's Uttar Pradesh unit chief, Shivpal Yadav. Not just the party rank and file, its legislators but also such leaders as West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad extended their support to Akhilesh. Sources said the Congress and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar also expressed their support to the UP CM.

By afternoon, Shivpal tweeted that Mulayam has revoked Akhilesh and Ram Gopal Yadav's expulsion. Mulayam had expelled the two for "indiscipline" on Friday evening. 
 

Akhilesh visited Mulayam for a meeting initiated by senior SP leader Azam Khan. It was also attended by Shivpal. A compromise was reached.

But the dust hasn't settled yet on the over four-month-long family saga in the SP. The Akhilesh camp has decided to go ahead with its Sunday morning meeting, where they have planned to announce Akhilesh as the national party chief, which could be a signal to Mulayam to "retire" from active politics.

The Akhilesh camp also wants greater say in ticket distribution for the coming Assembly polls and that Rajya Sabha member Amar Singh be expelled from the party. Both could come about and send a message that Shivpal's wings have been clipped, and the party has purged itself of "outsiders" such as Amar Singh.

Lalu Prasad, whose daughter is married to Mulayam's grandnephew, played a peacemaker. He also expressed hope of a Samajwadi Party and Congress alliance for the UP polls. Shivpal later addressed a public meeting and likened Narendra Modi government's note ban decision to the Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi government in 1975. 
 

"All of us together will fight communal forces and we will once again form an SP government in UP with full majority. All matters have been resolved," Shivpal said.

Party sources said a new list of candidates, shorn of names that Akhilesh has objected to, will be prepared. The list will have the stamp of Akhilesh and Sunday morning's meeting a show of solidarity between the two camps, sources said. Akhilesh had fallen out with his father when several of the names suggested by him for party tickets were ignored in the list released by Mulayam.

The Congress welcomed the decision. The Bharatiya Janata Party termed the entire episode a charade. Sources in the SP claimed the united party would prevent any split in its vote bank of Other Backward Castes, particularly the Yadavs, and will also be able to retain its support among the Muslims.