Do you think your breakup with the Samajwadi Party was unavoidable?
Four times, before the (Lok Sabha) elections and before the party’s formation, I went to Professor saab (Ram Gopal Yadav). We tried to get a space in the mahagathbandhan (the BSP-SP alliance). If any attention was paid to these efforts, the results of the elections would have been different. I was mocked and told that if I were to contest, I would not even get 500 votes (he got 91,869 votes from Firozabad).
Was Akhilesh trying to turn around the party’s image by opposing some of your decisions, like the merger with the Quami Ekta Dal?
I had tried to make a larger alliance with [H.D.] Deve Gowda, Nitish Kumar, Sharad Yadav, Kamal Morarka, Lalu Prasad, Om Prakash Chautala and Ajit Singh. All these leaders were ready to come under Netaji (elder brother Mulayam Singh Yadav). If that had happened, the stature of the party would have been different. I never spoke of getting Mukhtar Ansari (of the QAD who has criminal cases against him) to the party. It was his other two brothers that I wanted to bring into the party. Politics works on alliances, not disruptions.
Do you think there is a possibility of your return to the party?
I have a political party now. We have been allotted a symbol. Our membership drive is on. Our focus is the 2022 state elections. There can be talk of an alliance, but not of a return. Old-time socialists are with us. We will work towards our ideals of equality and progress.
Is Mulayam Singh Yadav happy?
He is not well. We do not speak about politics. Whatever happened in the family was not good.
Does it bother you that you are no longer in the party you helped found?
All this is a matter of destiny. When we started in politics, I never thought of becoming an MLA or a minister. I can only say that I am happy. Akhilesh did some good work, but we did poorly in the three elections since 2012.
As his uncle, what advice would you give Akhilesh?
He is a grownup. He is mature. Who am I to advise him?