SP chief calls for 2 meets as power tussle continues

Lucknow: The power tussle in the Samajwadi Party is all set to emerge once again. SP president Akhilesh Yadav has convened a meeting of the state executive in Lucknow on September 23 and a national convention meeting on October 5 in Agra.

Mulayam Singh Yadav will not be involved in the conferences called by the party at the state and the national level. However, the SP patriarch has convened a meeting of Samajwadi leaders who claim their loyalty to him at the Lohia Trust office on September 21.

Significantly, Ram Gopal Yadav, who owes allegiance to the Akhilesh faction, is the secretary of the Lohia Trust. He had not attended the last meeting of the Trust, held two months ago.

Though the agenda of this meeting was not known, sources said that meeting would discuss the situation in the SP and may even decide on the future course of action.

“There are clear indications that Akhilesh Yadav will be re-elected as party president for five years on October 5 at the national convention, which means that there is no room for Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav in the party which he had founded. In such a situation, there are decisions to be taken,” a senior leader close to Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav said.

Shivpal Yadav, whose loyalty to his elder brother Mulayam Singh Yadav has stood the test of time, said on Sunday, “We want that the entire family and the party should stand united and the respect of Netaji (Mulayam) should be restored.”

He refused to comment on the parallel meetings being convened by rival factions.

Meanwhile, a member of the Akhilesh faction said that things had gone too far and it was not possible to turn the clock back.

“Mr Akhilesh Yadav is our president and will remain so. The elders should be content in their role of patriarchs,” the aide said.