Journalism of Courage
Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Yadav has met the party’s general secretary, Ram Gopal Yadav, as part of the unity efforts. Sources said the two had a closed-door meeting in Delhi last week to end the family feud that cost the SP the 2017 Assembly elections. They agreed to bury their differences and to re-unite the family ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha elections in which the SP plans to contest as part of a “broader alliance” at the national level.
The SP has allied with arch-rival BSP to take on the BJP.
“The meeting was held and everything is alright in the family,” Shivpal told The Indian Express. Shivpal is back in the reckoning after the meeting and is likely to be named as the party’s national general secretary. He had been left out in the cold over his differences with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav.
Akhilesh and his father, Mulayam Singh Yadav, had patched up after party’s worst-ever electoral performance in 2017. But the frosty ties between Ram Gopal and Shivpal had frustrated attempts to unite the SP.
Shivpal, who is Mulayam’s younger brother, was left out of the 55-member national executive that Akhilesh formed in October last year.
Shivpal’s relations with his cousin, Ram Gopal, and nephew, Akhilesh, soured in September 2016 when Mulayam replaced his son with him as the state party chief. Akhilesh, who was then Uttar Pradesh chief minister, retaliated by divesting Shivpal of key cabinet portfolios. Akhilesh soon replaced his father as the party chief and sacked Shivpal.
Earlier, Akhilesh had released his list of candidates for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, overruling Mulayam and Shivpal in December 2016. Mulayam expelled Akhilesh and Ram Gopal from the party the next day over “gross indiscipline.” He was soon forced to revoke the expulsion.
Shivpal had in October 2016 expelled Akhilesh’s seven loyalists, including Ram Gopal. He had accused Ram Gopal of being in league with the BJP. Five MLCs were expelled for misconduct after they staged a demonstration outside Mulayam Singh’s Lucknow residence, demanding Akhilesh’s return as the state party president. Akhilesh had revoked expulsion of his loyalists and expelled five leaders close to Shivpal after the assembly elections.
Shivpal had maintained distance from the party activities, but wished Akhilesh in advance even as he skipped the party’s national convention in Agra before the party president election in October. He had even threatened to float a secular front with Mulayam. But he attended a dinner Akhilesh had organised for party MLAs ahead of Rajya Sabha elections last month. This was his first public appearance with Akhilesh after the 2017 polls.
