Father Son Battle deepens Samajwadi Fissures in UP

Fissures in the Samajwadi Party resurfaced with senior leader Shivpal Yadav declaring that his brother Mulayam Singh Yadav will head a secular front to be formed by him.

Shivpal, who retained the Jaswantnagar Assembly seat during the recent elections, had recently given an ultimatum that the secular front would be formed if Akhilesh Yadav did not hand over the reins of the party back to his father Mulayam in three months.

The warring uncle of Akhilesh made the announcement after a meeting with Mulayam at a relative's house in Etawah this morning. Shivpal held discussions on forming the new secular front with them. He, however, did not explain what the new front would do - whether it would contest polls against the SP or strengthen it by bringing socialists under one roof.

Shivpal had been saying that he would soon launch a campaign to unite "samajwadis" (socialists) to bring them on a single platform.

The Samajwadi Party had witnessed a bitter feud between uncle Shivpal and nephew Akhilesh in the run up to the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls. Mulayam had earlier blamed Akhilesh for the Samajwadi Party's poor performance in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections and said that his son had insulted him. Shivpal had recently said, "We will not let the legacy of 'samajwad' (socialism) to weaken and will soon launch a campaign to unite socialists to bring them on one platform." Following a bitter feud between the father and the son, Akhilesh had snatched reins of the party from Mulayam and their fight also reached the Election Commission.

Shivpal had indicated that the family could be united if Akhilesh stepped back and resigned from the post of national president accepting moral responsibility for the party's dismal performance in the recent assembly polls. But, Akhilesh confidant Ram Gopal Yadav had said a few days back that the Shivpal should read the constitution of SP before seeking resignation of Akhilesh.