Lucknow/New Delhi: The “main thorn” in the Samajwadi parivar, the so-called “outsider” Amar Singh, has apparently given an indication that he is “willing to step down” if his presence is the main stumbling block to the party’s unity.
Hectic parleys were held throughout the day on Friday in Lucknow without any breakthrough, except that Akhilesh Yadav continued to remain on top with majority of the Samajwadi Party legislators backing him.
On the request of the faction led by the Uttar Pradesh chief minister, SP’s bank accounts have been frozen. The Samajwadi Party has around Rs 500 crore in its Delhi, Etawah and Lucknow accounts and money cannot be withdrawn without the consent of the party’s national president.
While some in the party claimed that the crisis in the SP would get over by Sunday, both the factions seemed keen to meet the Election Commission on January 9 to claim the cycle symbol.
Friday was a day of meetings in Lucknow even as the “brain” behind the Akhilesh camp, party general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav, was camped in Delhi with over 200 signed affidavits from legislators — MLAs and MLCs — in the chief minister’s favour. He said that he would pursue Mr Akhilesh ’s claim to the party symbol with EC on Monday.
The EC will offer the party symbol not merely on the basis of the strength of legislatures, but also on proof of organisational strength that each faction has in the party. This would mean that all district heads and block-level office bearers would have to sign in favour either Akhilesh Yadav or Mulayam Singh Yadav. Ram Gopal Yadav is reportedly ready with the required documents.
In Lucknow, the entire senior SP leadership, including Amar Singh, converged at Mulayam Singh Yadav’s residence to make a last-ditch attempt to avert a vertical split in the party.
Shivpal Yadav arrived early in the morning at his elder brother’s house and Amar Singh followed shortly.
Shivpal Yadav even went across to meet chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, apparently with a compromise formula, but returned empty handed within seven minutes.
Amar Singh and Shivpal Yadav reportedly offered to resign in order to facilitate a truce between father and son, but Mulayam Singh Yadav refused to let them go. Akhilesh Yadav, though in Lucknow, did not meet his father.
Though Mulayam Singh continues to get isolated with each passing day, leaders in the Akhilesh camp are leaving nothing to chance, for now or the future.
Determined not to let him step down as national president of the party, Sunil Sajan, a close confidant of the chief minister, said, “Even if he wants to, he cannot step down because he was elected by the national convention.” On January 1, at the national convention called by Ram Gopal Yadav in Lucknow, Akhilesh Yadav was elected as the national president of the party. This convention was declared illegal by Mulayam Singh Yadav.
In Lucknow, Amar Singh lashed out at Naresh Agarwal, Rajya Sabha MP in Akhilesh Yadav’s camp, who had called him a “BJP agent”.
“This is the same person who has been in the Congress, then a minister in the BJP government and then traveled to BSP and he is calling me a BJP agent,” he said.
Amar Singh also hit out at Akhilesh Yadav for accepting the support of MLAs with criminals records, like Sigbatullah Ansari, brother of Mukhtar Ansari and Gayatri Prajapati. Then came his sting. “Shivpal Yadav has been accused of harboring criminals, but now the same criminals have turned noble after they went to the chief minister’s residence and signed an affidavit in his favor,” Amar Singh said.
In the national capital, however, Amar Singh’s tone was much subdued.
Speaking to the media at Indira Gandhi International Airport, he said, “I continue to give my blessings to Akhilesh Yadavji and I want to assure him that I am not against his progress.” Trying to reach out to the chief minister, Amar Singh said that his “contribution to CM Akhilesh Yadav’s growing up life is well known and is in the public domain.” He claimed that “be it education or personal life, we have always supported Akhilesh.”
Sending a signal that he was ready to step down, Amar Singh played the emotional card, saying, “I will only feel bad if Mulayam Singh Yadav discards me from his heart… I would not have any regrets if I am expelled.”
