Once a CM contender, Shivpal Yadav is a nowhere man as Mulayam stands by son
Shivpal Yadav, younger brother of Samajwadi Party chief patron Mulayam Singh Yadav and uncle of the party’s national president Akhilesh Yadav, stands as a political loner today resigned to his fate after losing a battle he once so fiercely fought.
Shivpal Yadav, once the contender for the chief minister’s post in the Samajwadi Party (SP), is a now a political loner.
The plans of Shivpal, the younger brother of the SP’s chief patron Mulayam Singh Yadav and uncle of the party’s national president Akhilesh Yadav, that began 15 months ago have not come a full circle.
Mulayam called Akhilesh a good boy and an able chief minister on his birthday on November 23 and said that his blessings will always be with his son. But he has not had a word about Shivpal since September.
Akhilesh fought tooth and nail since August last year to win the post of SP’s national president and purge all the rebels to get re-elected in Agra this October. He also won back his father and party’s founder president Mulayam’s blessings.
Just a week before that, Mulayam had called Akhilesh a betrayer because he had not returned the party’s presidentship to him but he crushed Shivpal’s dream of floating a new organisation in the same breath and called for the strengthening of the organisation he founded.
Shivpal commanded a position in the party and the government in August last year when he threatened to quit the party. Today, he continues in the party as its Mainpuri MLA after losing all. He has gone into a political seclusion and is not making any comment either in Lucknow or Mainpuri, where he goes frequently, or on social media.
All those who stood by him like pillars during his tussle for power with Akhilesh have deserted him and several of his camp members have joined the Bhartiya Janata Party or Bahujan Samaj Party.
The former legislators of the SP -- Yashwant Singh, Sarojini Agarwal, Bukkal Nawab, and Ashok Bajpai -- have quit their MLC seats and joined the BJP. Ambika Chaudhary, who was also in the Shivpal camp, is in the BSP.
Three ministers -- Narad Rai, Shadab Fatima, and Om Prakash Singh -- close to him were sacked by Akhilesh from his cabinet. Singh is back in the Samajwadi Party and Rai, who was later expelled along with all these, joined the BSP. But, Rai recently quit Mayawati’s party and is looking for a place back in SP through Mulayam.
Singh along with Fatima and another Shivpal camp member Ashu Malik came to the party headquarters and were present on the stage with Akhilesh during Mulayam’s birthday celebrations. There are speculations that Rai, Malik, and Fatima will be taken back into the party’s fold.
Shivpal’s banner of rebellion that had Mulayam’s blessings lies tattered and his political future is uncertain as the party patron now stands by his son Akhilesh.
