Defying Mulayam Singh, Akhilesh Yadav has come out with his own list of candidates for the Assembly polls
Highlights
- Rift within Samajwadi Party grows as Akhilesh Yadav defies father Mulayam
- After Mulayam Singh names candidates for polls, separate list by Akhilesh
- Mulayam Singh has distinctly favoured brother Shivpal over son Akhilesh
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has been expelled from the Samajwadi Party for six years by his father and party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav. Mulayam Singh had earlier issued a show cause notice asking his son why disciplinary action should not be taken against him after he released a parallel list of candidates for the Uttar Pradesh elections, which includes several party leaders who are close to him and who did not make it to the official list released by his father a day before. The Akhilesh camp had responded with more defiance, with his uncle and staunch supporter Ram Gopal Yadav calling an emergency party meeting on Sunday.
Here are the top 10 developments in this big story:
Tomorrow, Mulayam Singh has called a meeting of all candidates named by him in what is intended to emphasise that they are the party's official nominees and he, the unchallenged boss.
Akhilesh Yadav's list of 235 includes 187 candidates who also feature in his father's list, and tomorrow's meeting will be watched keenly for how many of these party leaders attend, signalling that they are with Mulayam Singh.
The Chief Minister's defiant move yesterday was seen as a last-ditch effort to pressure his father into reconsidering the candidacy of his key aides after they failed to reach common ground at a meeting in Lucknow.
Mulayam Singh Yadav attempted a compromise when on Thursday night his brother and the Samajwadi Party's UP chief Shivpal Yadav named 68 more candidates, including two Akhilesh loyalists. But that has left Akhilesh Yadav unmoved.
Ram Gopal Yadav said he sees no scope for a compromise. "When there are two candidates to be chosen, everybody is divided...Those who oppose Akhilesh he will not be able to see the Vidhan Sabha." Ram Gopal Yadav too has been served a show cause notice.
Ram Gopal's letter calling for an emergency meeting on Sunday is written on the party letterhead in his capacity. He has however ruled out a split saying, "Every political party goes through some trouble. You will soon see that things would be fine during the elections."
Both Shivpal and Akhilesh, engaged in a bitter power struggle for months, had recommended candidates. Mulayam Singh Yadav's list, announced in Akhilesh's absence, distinctly favoured brother Shivpal, in what was seen as another big snub to the 43-year-old Chief Minister.
The official Samajwadi Party list has on it several people backed by Shivpal and whose candidacy has been fiercely opposed by Akhilesh Yadav, including a gangster-turned-politician who faces 44 serious criminal charges.
Mulayam Singh Yadav has also repeatedly said no one will be projected as the party's presumptive Chief Minister, which is unacceptable to Akhilesh Yadav's supporters, who say the young Chief Minister is the party's face.
The Samajwadi Party's internal strife gives an added advantage to the BJP and Mayawati's BSP in the mega battle for Uttar Pradesh, being pegged as the semi-final before national elections in 2019. Elections to UP's 403 assembly seats are expected to be announced by the Election Commission any day now.
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