Following uproar after the declaration of first candidate list by SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, on Thursday, met his father in a bid to assuage hurt feelings of his close aides who were denied tickets. According to insiders, in the meeting, Akhilesh strongly recommended the case of his loyalists. The meeting between father and son lasted for more than an hour and it is believed that some aides of Akhilesh like Arvind Singh Gope, Ram Govind Chaudhary and Pawan Pandey may be fielded and the list amended soon.
The meeting between father and son failed to reach at any amicable solution. Sources say that if the deadlock continues, and Akhilesh's loyalists do not get tickets, there is a strong possibility that Akhilesh will come out with a separate list.
Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, on Thursday morning, met with his father. Later on, he held a meeting with his ministers and MLAs at his official residence to discuss the issue. Soon, he was joined by his uncle and the state president of the party Shivpal Yadav.
After that, the SP chief summoned him. Akhilesh met Mulayam Singh to brief him about the sentiments of disgruntled leaders. It may be recalled that the ongoing tug-of-war between chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and his uncle Shivpal Yadav, which has been going on since September this year, was further aggravated when the latter came out with a list of party candidates.
Trusted men of Akhilesh were not given any place. In retaliation, chief minister Akhilesh Yadav had sent a separate list of candidates to the SP national president for approval.
Akhilesh’s list omitted some names which were cleared by state president Shivpal Yadav.
Meanwhile, national general secretary of the party and Mulayam’s brother Ramgopal Yadav has strongly defended Akhilesh Yadav in this strife and said that he would not allow anyone to obstruct Akhilesh’s path.
