Shivpal Yadav gets new flag for his party

Lucknow: Taking a step further away from the Samajwadi Party, senior SP leader Shivpal Yadav on Monday quietly unveiled the flag of his newly-formed Samajadwai Secular Morcha (SSM).

On Monday morning, My Yadav’s car was seen with the new SSM flag which has three stripes of red, yellow and green. The flag has a photograph of Mr Shivpal Yadav on one side and Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav on the other.

All vehicles in Mr Yadav’s convoy were seen flaunting the party flag. The Samajwadi Party flag is red and green in colour with the party symbol “cycle” embossed at the centre.

With the SSM having got its own flag, sources said that Mr Shivpal Yadav would soon announce his party’s national and state executive and then apply for registration in the Election Commission.

“We are getting tremendous support and our flag will fly high in the Lok Sabha polls. We are preparing to contest all 80 seats in the Lok Sabha elections in alliance with like-minded parties”, he said in Barabanki during a function.

Mr Shivpal Yadav has already offered the Mainpuri seat to elder brother Mulayam Singh Yadav, who has been maintaining a studied silence on the re-emerging rift within the family.

With Mr Yadav coming out with the flag for his party, chances of any reconciliation with his estranged nephew and SP president Akhilesh Yadav now seem bleak.

“There is no going back now. I have taken the decision to form the morcha after waiting for almost two years. I have been humiliated enough,” he said.

The Samajwadi Party, till now, has not reacted to the development though, sources said, some senior SP leaders have been asking Mr Akhilesh Yadav to initiate action against Mr Shivpal Yadav.

A major hurdle in this is the silence of Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav who is yet to comment on the development. Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav has not contradicted his young brother’s claim that the Morcha was formed with his blessings.