AKHILESH, WIFE DIMPLE CALL ON SHIVPAL AHEAD OF MAINPURI BYPOLL

KANPUR: Days before the Mainpuri Lok Sabha bypoll, Samajwadi Party (SP) national president Akhilesh Yadav and his wife, party candidate Dimple Yadav, on Thursday met his estranged uncle, Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party-lohia (PSP-L) chief Shivpal Yadav.

The meeting took place at Shivpal’s residence in the Yadavs’ ancestral village Saifai in Etawah district. It comes a day after Shivpal met his supporters and appealed to them to ensure Dimple Yadav’s victory.

After the meeting, Akhilesh Yadav tweeted, “Along with blessings of Netaji and elders of the family, the people of Mainpuri are with us.” He shared a picture with his uncle, wife and Shivpal’s son Aditya Yadav.

The bypoll to the seat was necessitated by the demise of Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav on October 10; Mainpuri is considered to be the party’s stronghold.

Shivpal Yadav had a bitter fallout with Akhilesh ahead of the 2017 UP assembly elections over control of the Samajwadi Party. He later floated his own party. The two came together during the 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, but after the elections, the relationship dipped. However, they were seen taking part in rituals together after Mulayam Singh Yadav’s death on October 10.