Shivpal didn’t speak to me about front, says Mulayam
BLOODLINE Samajwadi Party supremo rules out split in party, says brother will listen to him
Party (SP) patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav said on Saturday his brother Shivpal didn’t speak to him before announcing the formation of an all-India secular front.
In an exclusive interview to HT, Mulayam said he would talk to Shivpal and pacify him, and that no one in the family or party wanted a split in the 25-year-old Samajwadi Party.
“I have not met Shivpal for the last one week... He has not spoken to me as yet about it (the front)… I will talk to him,” a visibly relaxed Mulayam told HT in Lucknow.
“As for the front, he has simply given a statement. I will talk to him, pacify him.”
The statement came a day after the 62-year-old Shivpal, former UP president of the party, announced that he will form within three months the Samajwadi Secular Morcha (SSM) that will be led by Mulayam.
Shivpal didn’t make it clear if he was walking out of the Samajwadi Party or if the new front will enter electoral politics.
But the SSM’s formation was seen as a fresh twist in a monthslong battle between Shivpal and his nephew Akhilesh for control of the party – a dispute that was held responsible for the party’s bruising defeat in state elections two months ago.
But Mulayam appeared to dismiss any speculation of a split. “Nobody in the family or party want it to split. What will they get if the party divides and weakens?”
“He (Shivpal) is hurt. I don’t know why my son Akhilesh Yadav doesn’t like him. I will always stand by my brother who has struggled and suffered so much for me and the party,” Mulayam said.
Shivpal had on Friday, announced he was floating a new secular front, without any clarity on whether this was a new party and whether he was breaking away from the SP.
“He (Mulayam) is very much on the board. Without his blessings we would not have taken such a major step,” hd had said.
The party’s national president Akhilesh Yadav had ‘welcomed’ the idea, but also obliquely referred to him as a backstabber.
“Hum political log hain, aasteen ke saanp ko pehchan letey hain (we are political people and know how to identify a backstabber),” the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister reportedly said.
“It is nice that a secular front is coming up. I do not have any idea yet in what form it will come up. Samajwadi people are always ready to take a test and they also pass those tests. Secular front should indeed come up,” he said.
Akhilesh said this on the sidelines of a conference of the SP’s cultural cell at the party office in Lucknow on Friday afternoon.
He (Shivpal) is hurt... I will always stand by my brother who has struggled and suffered so much for me and the party