Strains in Shivpal-Akhilesh ties again? Uncle says ‘not invited' to SP meeting

Ahead of the UP assembly polls, Akhilesh had agreed to mend fences with his estranged uncle Shivpal to take on the BJP.

Months after Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav agreed to mend fences with his estranged uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav -- ahead of the assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, it seems there are signs of strains in the relationship yet again. Shivpal, who won from the Jaswantnagar seat on an SP ticket in the recently held assembly elections, has alleged that he was not invited to the party's legislative meeting on Saturday.

Shivpal Singh Yadav with Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav. (HT file)

"I was not invited to the party meeting. I waited for two days and cancelled all my programmes for the meeting, but I wasn't invited. I am an MLA from Samajwadi Party but still not invited," news agency ANI quoted Shivpal as saying.

The two leaders had a bitter fallout over control of the party before the 2017 assembly elections. Beginning August 2016, both leaders hurled verbal barbs at each other for months, eventually leading to more dissension in the party and its poor performance in the 2017 assembly elections, when it was routed from everywhere except its pocket boroughs in central UP.

Shivpal floated the PSP-L before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. He contested against SP candidate and then sitting MP Akshay Yadav from Firozabad. However, both lost as the BJP wrested the seat from the SP. Shivpal has had limited electoral success but continues to wield influence in districts like Etawah, Mainpuri, Forozabad, Agra and Mathura.

Last year, the chill between the uncle and nephew had seemed to thaw. The SP and PSP had joined forces in a panchayat poll in Etawah, and had won 18 out of 24 wards.

By December 2021, the two parties had reached a seat-sharing agreement for the assembly polls. That is how Shivpal came to be a candidate for the SP-PSP alliance.

Shivpal defeated BJP's Vivek Shakya by 90,979 votes in the assembly elections.