Akhilesh may add father's picks, but Shivpal is out

Lucknow: UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, after winning the battle in the Election Commission and gaining control over the party and its symbol, is now trying to build bridges with his father Mulayam Singh Yadav, whom he had deposed from the post of party president on January 1.

This could mean that Mulayam Singh Yadav seeks about 40 seats for his supporters who had been shown the door by the chief minister as the family war escalated, especially the ministers who had been sacked for supporting the senior Yadavs.

However, truce is still a considerable distance away in the Yadav clan.

Shivpal Yadav has made it clear that he will not contest elections under Akhilesh Yadav’s leadership, and neither will he hold any post in the party. Relations between Shivpal Yadav and the CM have been particularly strained since the past few months.

With Shivpal Yadav out of the picture, his son Aditya Yadav may be given the party ticket to fight from his father’s traditional seat, Jaswantnagar.

The chief minister, who visited his father late on Monday night and again on Tuesday, said that he had his father’s blessings. Both sides refused to confirm whether Mulayam Singh Yadav’s candidates would be accommodated in the final list.

The chief minister, however, told reporters that “Netaji ka chehra, mera kaam, Samajwadi Party ki yehi pehchaan” will be the new slogan of the Samajwadi Party.

“A victory which sees my father being upset cannot be a matter of joy for me, but this was necessary. I was confident of getting our symbol. He is my father and the relationship will never change. He will continue to be our mentor and patron and we will form the next government in UP,” Mr Yadav said.

Even as he claimed that all was well in the party, Ram Gopal Yadav filed a caveat in the Supreme Court that Akhilesh should be heard in case any petition challenging the EC’s order on the party symbol is filed.  

Sources, however, said that Mulayam Singh Yadav is unlikely to challenge the EC verdict. “Netaji is a politician and will fight his battles politically. Right now, there is no indication of challenging the EC verdict,” said an aide of the Samajwadi patriarch. The EC on Monday ruled that Akhilesh Yadav was the rightful president of the Samajwadi Party and restored the party symbol (bicycle) to him.

Akhilesh Yadav, determined to send out a message to party cadres that he has his father’s blessings, has asked workers not to raise slogans against anyone and that all party posters must carry Mulayam Singh Yadav’s photograph. Reply to a question, Akhilesh Yadav said that an alliance with the Congress was on the cards and that the modalities would be worked out in a day or two. “We will make the announcement in Lucknow. Today I am going to finalize our list of candidates”, he said.