Mulayam indicates making his son the CM in 2012 was wrong

Samajwadi Party (SP) national president Mulayam Singh Yadav on Saturday said he knew why chief minister Akhilesh Yadav was upset with his (Akhilesh’s) uncle Shivpal, a senior party leader.

“In 2012, Shivpal had suggested that I should become chief minister for the fourth time and crown Akhilesh after the 2014 Lok Sabha election. Akhilesh has been cross with Shivpal since then,” said the SP national chief, who appeared to be peeved about Akhilesh’s stance.

Addressing youth wing workers and leaders who have been protesting since Thursday night, he went on to say: “In retrospect, I think Shivpal was right. And the defeat in the Lok Sabha polls was proof of it. Who was the chief minister when we lost in 2014? We got only five seats. Can you even imagine how humiliated I felt! Once, when I was the chief minister, we had 27 seats. In another tenure, our Lok Sabha tally was 39. What tally did we get in 2014? Five, just five. We were ruined.”

He further said: “Fine, he is my son. Had I not agreed, he would have not become CM ever. All must learn that once you hold a high post, one should learn to take everyone along, shouldn’t nurture ego, must also learn to tolerate criticism. What all did Akhilesh do before the 2012 polls other than riding bicycle? Agreed, the Akhilesh government did a good job, but most of it was carry forward of the work his (Mulayam) government did.” SHIVPAL, AMAR AND GAYATRI PRAISED

Despite the tussle in the family over party leader Amar Singh and sacked minister Gyatri Prasad Prajapati, Mulayam had good words to say for them. He told the workers that Shivpal had worked very hard for several decades and Gayatri Prasad Prajapati, Balram Yadav (chief ministser had sacked him recently over the issue of Qaumi Ekta Dal merger issue) and Amar Singh were useful. Shivpal had not even cared for his life, several times he was on the verge of getting killed, he said.

“Where was the need to change Shivpal’s departments? Why did Akhilesh throw him out? If they had some issues, they should have sorted them out between them. Do you all know how hard Shivpal, I and other contemporaries worked to build this party? We slept in huts, went to jail, faced lathicharge. Were you all there then? I won’t let all this ‘tamasha’ go on,” he asserted.