The power tussle in UP’s first family is no secret. Now it is out in the open as the state gears up for Assembly elections early next year. On Monday, Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav let everyone know what was previously an open secret — the conflict between his son and UP CM Akhilesh Yadav and his younger brother and state Cabinet minister Shivpal Singh Yadav. Mulayam sided with Shivpal who had earlier threatened to resign and once again trolled son Akhilesh publicly. Mulayam said some members of the party are conspiring against Shivpal and it will be a big problem for the party if he leaves.
On several occasions in past Mulayam had hit out at the state government led by Akhilesh. On Monday again he said that Akhilesh’s ministers are burden on the party. “If I stand up, all will run away.” On Sunday, Shivpal had hit out at his own government and party officials, saying some SP members are oppressing weaker sections and land grabbing is on, while middle-men are ruling over police stations and tehsils. “If this doesn’t stop, I will resign and sit in the Opposition”. Shivpal had also attacked officials of the state government.
Shivpal is considered to be the second most powerful leader of the party after Mulayam. According to Indian Express, Shivpal regularly holds janta durbar in Lucknow every Friday, CM Akhilesh rarely holds one.The conflict between Shivpal and Akhilesh has been brewing since the former tried to forge an alliance between SP and Quami Ekta Dal of mafia-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari. While Mulayam had approved the merger, considering Ansari’s hold among Muslim voters, Akhilesh ruled out the merger, saying it will further dent the state government’s image which has been accused of letting criminal elements a free hand in the state.
The political future of SP in the state is uncertain amid allegations of corruption and crime. While Akhilesh has been trying hard to sell the development image of his government to people with initiatives like Lucknow metro, on the ground things have not changed much. A power tussle in the family is a reflection of the party’s uncertain future that the troika of Mulayam, Akhilesh and Shivpal are foreseeing.
