Ahead of Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, the Samajwadi Party has sacked senior leader and party spokesperson Mohan Singh. The move gains significance as it shows growing clout of party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav’s son Akhilesh Yadav. Singh and Yadav junior reportedly had differences over induction of controversial MLA, DP Yadav, whose son, Vikas Yadav has been convicted in the Nitish Katara murder case, in the party.
?On the direction of Mulayam Singh Yadav, Mohan Singh has been removed from the post of party’s national spokesman. Professor Ram Gopal Yadav has been given his charge,? Samajwadi Party spokesman Rajendra Chowdhury said.
The development comes after Mohan Singh’s statement favoured DP Yadav’s induction in the Samajwadi Party after he met party leader Mohammand Azam Khan in Rampur in December. State party president Akhilesh Yadav, however, said DP Yadav and those with dubious record would not be taken in the party.
Sources say the succession line in the party has been clear for some time and the UP elections will turn out to be a watershed for the young leader. ?Everyone is concentrating on Rahul Gandhi, whereas the real person to watch is Akhilesh Yadav. His kranti yatra is getting tremendous response across the state,? said a senior party leader.
Not just internal matters of the party, Yadav has also been open and decisive about the prospects of a post poll tie up with the Congress. ?He has been deciding the party line on several issues and will be doing more so in the future,? said the senior party leader.