Akhilesh Yadav’s uncle Shivpal Yadav has dissolved all his party's working committees in Uttar Pradesh, and national and state working cells, according to an official statement. The Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party’s move comes amid speculation about the 67-year-old leader’s growing bonhomie with the BJP.
However, the party has called it a “routine exercise”. "This is a routine exercise that most political parties do post assembly or Lok Sabha elections. And then reconstitute and reorganise the outfit for the next elections", said Deepak Mishra, the party spokesperson.
On Thursday, at an event, Akhilesh Yadav - when questioned about the buzz over the proximity between his uncle and the rival BJP - was quoted as saying by news agency PTI: "I do not have any such information."
Earlier this month, Shivpal Yadav followed Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and former deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma on Twitter. He had also met the UP chief minister - a meeting that brought back spotlight on the strains between him and his nephew.
After the meeting at the chief minister's residence, when asked if he would take any major decision, he had said, "Very soon, I will talk about everything and tell everything."
{{/usCountry}}After the meeting at the chief minister's residence, when asked if he would take any major decision, he had said, "Very soon, I will talk about everything and tell everything."
{{/usCountry}}Shivpal Yadav had fought the recently held UP elections as a Samajwadi Party candidate from Jaswant Nagar.
Even though the uncle-nephew duo had mended ties before the crucial state polls, differences started emerging days after the poll results.
Recently, Shivpal had also expressed support for the uniform civil code, which the BJP has supported but has been defined as "anti-minority" by critics.
Before the UP elections, Akhilesh Yadav's sister-in-law, Aparna Yadav, had also switched to the BJP. She said she had ditched “pariwarwad” (dynastic poliitcs) but not "pariwar" (family)".
(With inputs from PTI)