Now, Shivpal has a political party
LUCKNOW Samajwadi Secular Morcha (SSM) convener and rebel Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Shivpal Yadav on Tuesday said the name of his political party will be Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia), which has been registered now.
Shivpal made the announcement at an event he held to launch a membership drive for his outfit (SSM).
Shivpal had announced formation of SSM on August 29 and had later said that the morcha will contest all 80 Lok Sabha seats in UP in the 2019 polls.
Since August, Shivpal had been busy organising and expanding the SSM with the appointment of divisional heads, frontal organisations, authorised spokespersons, and public meetings across the state.
Shivpal also said that he had tried his best to improve things in the Samajwadi Party and for its unity, but he was pushed to the corner and forced to chart his own course.
"As the minister in Samajwadi Party government, I must say that I did a good job and worked hard to consolidate the party, but ultimately the sycophants prevailed. I was insulted in the party, Netaji's (SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav) honour too was compromised. Netaji and I wanted that the entire family stays united. I waited for very long but ultimately decided to take this step. In the SSM and PSP, sycophants and gossip mongers will have no place. If I make any mistake, please come up to me and tell me bluntly on my face." Shivpal, who continues to be Samajwadi Party MLA from Jaswantnagar, has had a protracted feud with nephew and former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav over the control of the party. Eventually, Akhilesh won and became the national president of the party in January 2017.
Shivpal, who had been running his SSM from his private home, now has a proper office space as the state government allotted him a palatial bungalow vacated by Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati. SSM and the new party will co-exist. Morcha intends to bring more like minded parties under it, including the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia), to contest elections together. As of now the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party has no constitution. Shivpal will organise all these and more in days to come, said a morcha member.