Samajwadi family rift resurfaces? Shivpal meets Yogi

PTI, Mar 31, 2022, 12:33 PM IST

Sulking socialist leader Shivpal Singh Yadav took oath as an MLA of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly on Wednesday and later met Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, indicating strains in the Samajwadi Party-led opposition alliance.

Deepak Mishra, a spokesperson for Shivpal Yadav’s Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party-Lohia, said it was a courtesy call.

“Since he could not meet the leader of the House after the elections, he met him today after taking oath. He also met the speaker of the UP Legislative Assembly,” Mishra told PTI.

He said the two were together at the CM’s 5 Kalidas Marg residence for about 20 minutes.

Later when asked by reporters whether he will take any major decision, Shivpal Yadav said, “Very soon, I will talk about everything and tell everything.”

Shivpal Yadav was sworn in as an MLA amid speculation that he ‘delayed’ the oath-taking to indicate a strained relationship with Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, who is his nephew.

Three other MLAs too took oath on the occasion.

Shivpal Yadav had contested the assembly elections from Jaswantnagar seat of Etawah on the symbol of the Samajwadi Party.

He had on Tuesday skipped a meeting in Lucknow between Akhilesh Yadav and SP allies.

Earlier, he did not attend the oath-taking ceremony in the state assembly.

When contacted, assembly officials did not say anything about his taking oath late.

The three other MLAs who took oath on Wednesday were Fateh Bahadur Singh from Caimpiyarganj (Gorakhpur), Surendra Maithani from Govindnagar (Kanpur) and Ashish Kumar Singh from Bilgram-Mallawa (Hardoi).

Six MLAs, including senior SP leader Azam Khan and Kairana legislator Nahid Hasan, are yet to take oath.

After remaining at loggerheads since 2017, Akhilesh Yadav and Shivpal Yadav had decided to mend fences just before the recent assembly elections.

Their estrangement had resulted in Shivpal Yadav launching his own party before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

In the just-concluded Assembly polls, both leaders had put up a united front.

Shivpal Yadav won from his traditional Jaswantnagar seat for the sixth time.

The fresh speculation over their relationship started after Shivpal Yadav was not called to a meeting of SP legislators on March 24, though he had contested on the party’s symbol and even campaigned for Akhilesh Yadav in the Karhal assembly segment.

Shivpal Yadav had expressed dismay over it.