The ongoing feud in the Yadav clan in Samajwadi Party went up by several notches after Mulayam Singh Yadav was replaced by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav as the party president. The decision was taken at a hurriedly called “emergency convention” of the party.
While the two factions continue to battle it out, the party symbol ‘cycle’ is likely to be frozen. Akhilesh camp has hinted that they may approach the Election Commission’s office on Monday to stake a claim to the Samajwadi Party’s symbol. As per the party’s constitution, the president of the party allots symbols in an election.
If Akhilesh stakes a claim, the commission will have to give a notice to the Mulayam faction to hear the other side of the story before taking the final decision. If no decision can be taken, the EC may exercise the option of freezing the ‘cycle.
The rift in the Yadav family aggravated after Mulayam released a list of candidates for the upcoming polls in UP, ignoring several of the CM’s confidantes and not projecting Akhilesh as the chief ministerial candidate. The CM, in turn, came out with another list, parallel to what his father had released.
Taking a disciplinary action, Akhilesh and his uncle Ramgopal Yadav were expelled from the party for 6 years. The decision had to be revoked after over 200 SP MLAs submitted their support fo the Chief Minister.
Despite Mulayam’s orders, a convention was called on Sunday where Akhilesh was declared as the Samajwadi Party president and Mulayam, the founder of the party was relegated to a corner by naming him as the ‘margdarshak’ (mentor). Amar Singh, who is being held responsible for the rift between the father-son duo was also expelled from the party.
Meanwhile, amid the crisis in the party, Mulayam’s health seems to have taken a hit. Doctors checked on Mulayam after he complained of high blood pressure on Sunday evening.
Akhilesh has maintained that he had to take the tough decision to protect his loved ones. “Sometimes to protect the ones you love you must make the right decision. What I did today was a tough decision but one that I had to take,” he tweeted on Sunday.
