Days after his Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party(PSP) merged with Samajwadi Party (SP), Shivpal Yadav said on Tuesday that he will stay with the latter for the rest of his life even if he does not get any position.
Speaking to reporters in Prayagraj, Shivpal, who is the uncle of SP supremo Akhilesh Yadav, hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), calling it a party that indulges in goondaism, which also registers fake cases against people.
“Now, I am going to stay lifelong in this party (Samajwadi Party), whether I get a post or not. This is our party. I worked continuously with ‘netaji’ (Mulayam Singh Yadav),” he was quoted as saying by PTI.
Earlier on December 8, 2022, he was handed over the SP ticket by Akhilesh Yadav, after Dimple Yadav win the Mainpuri by-poll. During his interaction with reporters, when he was asked about speculations that he might become the leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, Shivpal pointed out that Akhilesh was doing a good job, which is also indicated by the party’s win in Mainpuri Lok Sabha bypolls.
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Giving examples of Jayaprakash Narayan and Ram Manohar Lohia, the 67-year-old leader also maintained that there had been several leaders who served the public without holding any posts.
However, the younger brother of Mulayam Singh Yadav evaded questions about the party contesting the 2024 general elections with JD(U), saying the party will decide on it after some time. He added that the main aim of his party is to remove the BJP from power. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had earlier dumped the BJP and formed a coalition government along with RJD and Left Parties. He had also met Akhilesh after changing sides.
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Slamming the BJP he said as per PTI, “ False cases are registered against people. Houses are bulldozed. Words such as ‘thok do’ were never used by us.”