Signs of unity: Mulayam, Shivpal, Ram Gopal share dais
KANPUR/AGRA: There were ‘signs of unity’ within the Yadav family from Saifai when senior Samajwadi Party leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav, Shivpal Singh Yadav and Ram Gopal Yadav shared the dias during the celebration of the latter’s 72nd birthday in Firozabad on Friday.
They exchanged greetings to communicate ‘all is well’.
Seen as bitter rivals within the Yadav family, Shivpal Singh Yadav and Ram Gopal Yadav cut the birthday cake together and hugged each other.
Shivpal said there was never any revolt in the family or rift in the party. “People with vested interest were trying to create a wedge,” he said.
However, there was some ‘anti climax’ on the occasion when former minister in state cabinet Shivpal Yadav said that he was not given his due despite playing an important role in making his brother Mulayam Singh Yadav the CM of UP thrice and his nephew Akhilesh Yadav once.
The Ramlila Maidan in Shikohabad town of Firozabad district was decked up for the birthday bash. Ram Gopal had sided with his nephew Akhilesh Yadav when the party saw infighting before the UP assembly election with Shivpal Yadav on the other side.Mulayam Singh Yadav joined the celebrations for cakecutting but addressed the gathering for just five minutes before the end of the gathering.“Our regime in the state did a lot for the masses and fulfilled promises made to farmers who are now a deprived lot with gap widening between the poor and the rich. The youths were provided jobs and development was top priority for the Samajwadi regime,” stated Mulayam after cutting the cake for Ram Gopal Yadav. Obliged by the presence of Mulayam Singh Yadav, Ram Gopal Yadav stated that it was because of the SP patriarch that he was serving the party.
Counting on the SP’s achievements during Mulayam’s regime, Ram Gopal expressed confidence that the party would flourish under the ‘marg-darshan’ (guidance) of Mulayam Singh Yadav during 2019 Lok Sabha election.
Shivpal Yadav also communicated birthday wishes for Ram Gopal Yadav, referring to him as his ‘elder brother’. But he expressed his ‘pain’ for being sidelined after the conflict within the party.