After over a year of family feud, Shivpal to get back Samajwadi Party post
Shivpal Yadav, the estranged uncle of Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, is likely to be appointed the party’s national general secretary.
Marking an end to the Yadav family feud that has been running for over a year, Shivpal Yadav, the estranged uncle of Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, is likely to be appointed the party’s national general secretary, restoring his honour.
Consequent to the feud, Shivpal had been nothing more than an MLA (from Jaswant Nagar) of the party . He was stripped of all party positions after Akhilesh officially took over as party president in January 2017.
Like Shivpal, his elder brother and Akhilesh’s father Mulayam Singh Yadav too does not hold any position as per the party constitution. Mulayam is addressed as the chief patron of the party, a position that does not exist in the SP’s constitution.
A senior SP leader familiar with the developments in the party said, “We understand that Shivpal will soon be given a post in the party. The idea had emerged when Akhilesh was re-elected national president of the party in Agra in October last year.”
“Ever since Shivpal met Ramgopal Yadav (national general secretary) in Delhi, talks of giving him the post of national general secretary have gained momentum,” the leader said, wishing anonymity.
He was referring to a meeting between the two SP leaders in Delhi last month, after which Shivpal had said that “everything is alright in the family”.
A week before that meeting, Akhilesh had said: “Chacha (Shivpal) voted for us. He will remain in the party. All speculations of any member of our family joining the BJP will prove to be wrong.”
Rumours had been doing the rounds that Shivpal would join the BJP or start a new party. During the Presidential elections in July 2017, he had voted against the party line, but followed the party whip in the recent Rajya Sabha polls.
Shivpal had also attended the party’s dinner ahead of the voting, where he sat next to Akhilesh.
Since August 2016, Shivpal, with Mulayam’s backing, was locked in a fierce feud with Akhilesh, the then Uttar Pradesh chief minister, over control of the party.
The feud ended on January 1, 2017, when Akhilesh was elected party president replacing Mulayam.
However, bitterness continued till October last year when Akhilesh was re-elected SP president, ending all possibilities of Mulayam getting the post back. Akhilesh and Shivpal stopped making statements against each other after that.
Mulayam gradually took Akhilesh’s side. Just recently, he emphatically supported him for his “masterstroke” of striking an alliance with Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati and winning both Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha bye-elections.
Now, wherever Shivpal goes, party workers wearing the SP’s signature red cap and waving party’s flag, greet him.
