SP leaders hold Amar Singh responsible for Yadav family feud
LUCKNOW: Several Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders on Sunday vented anger against party general secretary Amar Singh, holding him responsible for the ongoing feud in the first political family of the state.
Senior Party leader Naresh Agarwal, without taking any names, demanded that the party identify the force that was pitting son against father and brother against brother.
After chief minister Akhilesh Yadav dismissed four ministers including uncle Shivpal — considered close to Amar Singh — and sacked Jaya Prada from the post of vice chairperson of Uttar Pradesh Film Development Council, SP workers assembled outside the chief minister’s residence and raised slogans against Amar Singh.
They smeared ink on his posters and burnt his effigy. Similar protests were also reported from other parts of the state.
Although Singh has often stated that the SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav was like his elder brother and chief minister Akhilesh like his son, the unfolding developments only indicate a new low in the party’s love-hate relationship with Singh.
“One person has already done a lot of damage,” said minister for parliamentary affairs Mohammad Azam Khan without naming Singh.
Mulayam has so far not spoken a word on chief minister’s remarks against Singh.
Shivpal had openly supported Singh, saying there was no outsider in the party, referring to the chief minister remark against the party’s Rajya Sabha MP.
Singh has not visited the state capital for a long time.