The rift in SP seems to be heading to a point of no return. In a major decision, the SP chief Mulayam singh Yadav, on Friday, expelled his son, chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, and brother Ram Gopal Yadav citing anti-party activities for six years. Mulayam took this harsh step after an open revolt by Akhilesh a day before. Justifying his action Mulayam said “he has taken this extreme step to save the party. His priority is to save the party at any cost.”
Before this, Mulayam Singh Yadav had issued show cause notices to chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and national general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav. The notice had been issued for anti-party activities by both of them, which Mulayam had taken very seriously. An angry Mulayam was extremely peeved over Akhilesh’s revolt and his step to come out with his own list of party candidates which was different from SP’s official list.
Mulayam was not happy with Ram Gopal for his vocal support to Akhilesh and his anti-party statements in public. Reacting on Mulayam’s move, Ramgopal who has taken this notice lightly, said, “such notices keep coming and party has called a national convention on January 1 in which things will be decided.”
Soon after this, Mulayam Singh, at a press conference, announced the expulsion of Ram Gopal and Akhilesh from the party and all posts for six years. Justifying his stand, Mulayam said, “that he does not have any right to call a special national convention of the party. This right rests only with the president of party.”
He further said, "Ram Gopal is deliberately weakening the party at the time of polls and did not inform me about his move to call a special convention." He exhorted party workers not to side with Ram Gopal. This is for the second time that he has been expelled from the party.
Speaking about Akhilesh, Mulayam said, “Ram Gopal is spoiling Akhilesh’s political future and using him."
Meanwhile Mulayam has called an emergency meeting of party MLAs and leaders on Saturday to discuss the future course of action.
Coming days in UP politics are likely to witness a trial of strength between pro and anti-Akhilesh groups.
If the tug of war between father and son intensify, party sources say that Mulayam may remove Akhilesh from the post of chief minister. On the other hand, there is a possibility that Akhilesh may recommend dissolution of the state assembly.
Mulayam dodged a question by mediapersons that if Akhilesh apologised, whether he would forgive him or not. Presently, it is not clear whether Akhilesh will remain the chief minister.
Many leaders in the SP party feel that in present circumstances there is very remote possibility of truce among the warring factions unless some extreme measures are taken. The party national general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav too has ruled out the possibility of any truce. He said, “Now the possibility of any compromise is very feeble and Akhilesh's opponents are my opponents.” With this he has made his stand clear.
Meanwhile, on Friday, the capital witnessed rounds of meeting among SP leaders to deal with the present crisis and chalk out the future course of action. First Akhilesh met party MLAs at his 5 K.D official residence. At the other end, state president of the party Shivpal Yadav, who is bitterly at the logger heads with Akhilesh, met Mulayam Singh Yadav at the former's residence to discuss future course of action.
Meeting between Shvipal and Mulayam lasted for around 45 minutes. Earlier in the morning, Akhilesh supporters gathered in front of Mulayam’s residence and indulged in slogan shouting.
It may be recalled that fight between warring factions in the SP further intensified when Mulayam Singh took the matter of ticket distribution in his own hands two days ago and released a list of 325 candidates in which many close aides of Akhilesh were denied tickets. Following this, Akhilesh had met Mulayam Singh to recommend the case of his men. But the meeting between them turned out to be a fiasco. Subsequently Akhilesh Yadav released his own list of candidates, different from his father’s list, virtually challenging the authority of Mulayam. His list accommodated most of his men.
