Samajwadi Party feud
Lucknow: Breaking his silence over the factional feud in SP, its supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav on Friday said there can be no division in the party till he is there, a day after the dramatic resignation from Cabinet and party posts by his brother Shivpal.
Addressing party men here, Mulayam said his son and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav will not defy his words and announced that sacked mining minister Gayatri Prajapati will be taken back in the UP Cabinet, considered a bone of contention between Shivpal and Akhilesh.
“There can be no division in the party, till I am there,” said Mulayam, who has been attempting to broker a truce between his son and brother.
“We have a big family, differences may occur… There is no fight between Shivpal Yadav and Akhilesh,” the Samjwadi Party supremo asserted while addressing party men, adding that Akhilesh will meet Shivpal at his residence. The SP supremo said it was election time and all should come together to work unitedly.
“There is no fight among Ramgopal, Akhilesh and Shivpal,” he told reporters as slogans in favour of Shivpal drowned his remarks. As the crisis threatened to cast a shadow over the SP’s prospects in the upcoming Assembly elections, Mulayam sought to downplay the developments saying, “Every father and son faces issues….There is no rift.”
Mulayam, however, said that there is “fault of our people as well who spoke to media” and added that some people created confusion that there was rift in the party.
“Samajwadi Party is a family. There are no differences in the party,” he said.
Mulayam also defended Prajapati who was dropped by Akhilesh as mining minister, saying “the order of his sacking will be rescinded”.
His remarks came hours after Shivpal told agitated supporters who had gathered outside his residence that he was with Mulayam. (PTI)