Shivpal Yadav says he was sacked from ministry for opposing illegal work

“I had protested against those doing illegal work and land grabbing. That is why I am out of the ministry,” he said.

Samajwadi Party’s Uttar Pradesh unit president Shivpal Yadav said on Monday he was dropped from the ministry as he had opposed those doing illegal work, in yet another salvo at nephew and state chief minister Akhilesh Yadav.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and his uncle and Samajwadi Party state president Shivpal Yadav are all smiles on the stage during the party's silver jubilee celebration programme at Janeshwar Mishra Park in Lucknowon November 5, 2016. (Ashok Dutta/Hindustan Times)

“I had protested against those doing illegal work and land grabbing. That is why I am out of the ministry,” he said.

Shivpal was sacked by Akhilesh from his ministry last month sparking off an unprecedented crisis in the ruling party and the Yadav clan.

“I will continue to raise my voice against those doing illegal works and am always with those who are doing good work -- be it religious or anything else,” he said at the Kalki Mahotsava here.

Shivpal, the younger brother of SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, has been at loggerheads with Akhilesh and two have sparred publicly in the recent past.

On October 23, Akhilesh sacked Shivpal along with three other pro-Amar Singh ministers, pushing the ruling party to the brink of a split ahead of the assembly polls in the state early next year