Shivpal in Akhilesh’s list as Mulayam intervenes

Lucknow: On a day when Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav was busy finalising his list of candidates for the Assembly elections and revoking suspension of his loyalists, former Samajwadi president Mulayam Singh Yadav managed to convince his younger brother Shivpal Singh Yadav to remain in active politics and contest polls.

“I will contest elections,” Shivpal Yadav told reporters on Wednesday, a day after he had said that he was opting out of elections.

He, however, but did not say whether he would prefer his constituency Jaswantnagar or move out to another, leaving Jaswantnagar for his son Aditya Yadav.

Shivpal Yadav was first sacked from the Cabinet by Akhilesh Yadav and then removed from the post of state party president by the emergency national convention of the party on January 1.

The change in decision came after a late night meeting with Mulayam Singh Yadav on Tuesday, after which his name was added to the list sent to Akhilesh Yadav, who is expected to “accommodate” the names recommended by his father in the final list of candidates which is likely to be released immediately after alliance issues are settled.

Sources said that candidates perceived to be Shivpal loyalists and those with a criminal background are being purged.

Akhilesh Yadav’s list reportedly does not include Aman Mani Tripathi, who is charged with the murder of his wife Sara Singh, Ateeq Ahmad and the Ansari brothers. However, controversial minister Gayatri Prajapati, who had earlier been sacked on corruption charges, is being retained in Akhilesh’s list.

Meanwhile, in his first major decision after becoming national president of SP, Akhilesh Yadav revoked the suspension of three MLCs and youth wing leaders who had been expelled by Shivpal Yadav in September last year.
 
A letter in this regard was issued by state president Naresh Uttam. These staunch Akhilesh loyalists were expelled after they raised the banner of revolt when Shivpal Yadav was appointed state president.
 
Reports said that Mulayam Singh Yadav had screened video footage of the youth leaders staging demonstrations outside his house and then ordered their expulsion.
 
This was the first time that party leaders had openly challenged the Samajwadi patriarch’s authority.
 
The move had triggered off war within the family and party that escalated leading to recent events in which Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav was deposed from the post of party president by the chief minister.

Shivpal Yadav, in the recent SP crisis, has been completely sidelined in the party. He was first sacked from the cabinet by the chief minister and his nephew Akhilesh Yadav and then ‘removed’ from the post of state president by the emergency national convention of the party on January 1.