Unease in party as SP family rift thaws

Lucknow: As the relations between the Yadav clan in the SP are beginning to thaw and the warring members of the first family are sweeping aside their differences, tension has started brewing among leaders who took sides in the family war.

In the past few days, reports of meetings between the warring cousins Ram Gopal Yadav and Shivpal Yadav have sent a cheer in the party and relations between SP president Akhilesh Yadav and his uncle Shivpal Yadav have also been improving. Defeat, apparently is serving as a great healer in this case.

While this brings a sense of relief to party workers, it is causing concern for those leaders who had taken sides in the family war and even issued statements against senior leaders. Some of these leaders had even staged a demonstration against Samajwadi patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav when action was taken against Mr Akhilesh Yadav. These leaders had, thereafter, been expelled which further escalated the family war.

“We are now in a piquant situation because the warring leaders are patching up. We will obviously be targeted and we do not know how strongly the party president will defend us. The rapidly changing situation in the party is giving us sleepless nights and we are wary about our future,” said one of the leaders, known as a strong Akhilesh loyalist.

The Akhilesh loyalists, who are also legislators, had taken it upon themselves to fight the family battles. They would consistently ignore Mr Shiv-pal and other senior me-mbers who owed allegia-nce to Mr Mulayam. Mr Shivpal, if and when he came to the attend the state assembly session, would remain isolated in the back benches and the Akhilesh loyalists would not even greet him.

Now with Mr Shivpal Yadav likely to return to the leadership ranks soon, it is there legislators who are feeling uncomfortable.