Shivpal gives poll ticket to Aman Mani against CM Akhilesh’s wishes

LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party state president Shivpal Yadav on Monday named a murder accused as a party candidate for next year’s assembly in Uttar Pradesh, a move that

LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party state president Shivpal Yadav on Monday named a murder accused as a party candidate for next year’s assembly in Uttar Pradesh, a move that could potentially increase friction with his nephew Akhilesh.

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Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, locked in a turf war with Shivpal, said he was not consulted on the candidature to Aman Mani Tripathi, accused of murdering his wife Sara last year.

Tripathi’s father, four-time legislator Amar Mani Tripathi, is serving a life term for murdering a poetess, Madhumita Shukla, in 2003. “I have given up all my rights,” the chief minister said on the sidelines of a public event shortly after the names of eight candidates were announced. Akhilesh was apparently referring to his demand for having a say in candidate selection.

Shivpal and party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav were also present at the function. This is the third time Akhilesh have disagreed with Shivpal’s choices.

The first confrontation was in the run-up to the 2012 assembly polls when Shivpal was in favour of giving candidature to strongman DP Yadav, whose son Vika sand nephew Vishal Yadav are in jail in the Nitish Kataria murder. Akhilesh had then put his foot down saying DP Yadav will not find a place in SP.

Earlier this year, Akhilesh’s opposition forced the SP to call off a merger with the Quami Ekta Dal, floated by jailed don Mukhtar Ansari. Shivpal had finalised the merger deal. The fiasco intensified the Yadav family’s infighting which finally broke out in public last month when Mulayam Singh Yadav replaced his chief minister-son as the state SP president with Shivpal.

An angry Akhilesh retaliated by divesting Shivpal of key portfolios.

Though Mulayam managed to broker an uneasy truce in the state’s ruling family, Aman Mani’s candidature could lead to more rumblings within the party just ahead of the polls.

Aman Mani will be the party candidate from Nautanwa in Maharajganj, an earlier stronghold of his father.

Aman Mani is an accused in the murder of his wife, who allegedly died in a road accident near Firozabad. Aman Mani was driving the vehicle. Seema Singh, the mother of Sara had filed a murder case against Aman Mani and campaigned for a probe by the CBI, which later took up the case.

Sara’s mother questioned the ticket to Aman Mani.

“If Mulayam Singh Yadav has courage, then he should give a reply to the educated and wise public of Uttar Pradesh. Why, against the public sentiments, he (Aman Mani) was given the ticket,” Seema Singh said.