SP split wide open after day of tit-for-tat sackings

Akhilesh sacks Shivpal from Cabinet, Mulayam expels CM loyalist Ramgopal

LUCKNOW: A split in the ruling Samajwadi Party looked inevitable after a fresh round of titfor-tat sackings on Sunday pitted chief minister Akhilesh Yadav against his father and party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh.

In the morning, Akhilesh threw out his uncle Shivpal Yadav, who is also the party’s state chief, and three other “proAmar Singh” ministers from his team. By evening, Mulayam had dismissed his cousin and SP general secretary Ramgopal Yadav, who has backed Akhilesh in the family feud, from the party for six years.

“Main Netaji ka uttradhikari hoon (I am Netaji’s successor). If anyone comes between the father-son relationships, I will not tolerate it,” Akhilesh told party legislators, the first time he has openly staked claim to Mulayam’s legacy.

The sackings indicate hardening of stand on both sides and couldn’t have come at a worse time. A resurgent opposition, anti-incumbency and worries over law and order situation – the party already had a battle on its hands. A power struggle in the Yadav clan was the last thing it needed.

Questions were also being raised about the state government, with the BJP, which is looking to topple the SP in the next year’s election, calling for a floor test. If things come to a head, Mulayam, who is said to be angry and called an emergency meeting of senior party leaders in the evening, could name himself or Shivpal as the chief minister, sources said. Monday could be another dramatic day. Mulayam has called a meeting of party MPs, MLAs and MLCs, where some “tough decisions” could be taken.

The first salvo on Sunday was fired by Akhilesh who met his ministers and party legislators at his residence. Amar Singh was damaging the party and those close to him couldn’t be part of his team, Akhilesh told the gathering.

“…whosoever goes with him (Amar Singh), goes out of the party,” legislator Vijay Mishra, quoted Akhilesh as saying. The

CM said he had “no intention of splitting the party”. “I am Netaji’s son. I will always be with him.”

Without naming anyone, the CM said he was sacking four ministers. Ahead of the meeting, Akhilesh had conveyed to governor Ram Naik his decision to boot out cabinet ministers Shivpal, Narad Rai and Om Prakash Singh and minister of state Shadab Fatima. Part of the SP crisis is attributed to Akhilesh’s sour ties with Amar Singh, a close aide of his father who returned to the party recently and was nominated to the Rajya Sabha.

The CM also removed actorturned-politician Jaya Prada, known to be close to Singh, from the Uttar Pradesh film development

council.

This is the second time in a month that Akhilesh had acted against Shivpal. He stripped Shivpal of his portfolios but gave them back after Mulayam managed an uneasy truce between his feuding son and brother. But, the peace plan now lays in tatters. Armed with a Mulayam order, Shivpal announced Ramgopal’s ouster at a press conference after he accused the senior party leader of colluding with the BJP and meeting its leaders thrice.

Before Akhilesh announced his decision to throw out the ministers, Ramgopal, the party’s chief strategist, attacked the Shivpal camp through an open letter.

HE SAID HE DID NOT REGRET HIS OUSTER FROM THE PARTY, BUT WAS HURT ABOUT THE ALLEGATIONS LEVELLED AGAINST HIM