 "UP Assembly election 2017: Akhilesh-Shivpal spar again, this time over Samajwadi Party poll candidates")
Just when we thought all was well in the Samajwadi family, reports indicated conflict between Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and his uncle and party’s state president Shivpal Yadav over nomination of poll candidates. According to a report by CNN-News18, on 24 December, the Uttar Pradesh chief minister met first-time MLAs at his residence and promised them to give party tickets. On 25 December, Akhilesh defied Shivpal and prepared a list of 403 candidates which he handed over the party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav. Mulayam refused to accept the list. A miffed Shivpal Yadav cried foul and said that the name of 175 candidates were already finalised. He also immediately tweeted out that the MLAs would be chosen on the basis of their merit. Akhilesh, meanwhile, said that his record is the strength that Samajwadi Party runs on.
टिकट का बंटवारा जीत के आधार पर होगा, अब तक 175 लोगो को टिकट दिया जा चूका है।
— Shivpal Singh Yadav (@shivpalsinghyad) December 25, 2016
“The party will not tolerate any indiscipline that might hurt party’s image,” he tweeted, at around 4pm, an hour after Akhilesh submitted his list to his father Mulayam Singh Yadav.
पार्टी में किसी प्रकार की अनुशासनहीनता बर्दाश्त नहीं की जायेगी, जो पार्टी की छवि को नुकसान पहुंचाए।
— Shivpal Singh Yadav (@shivpalsinghyad) December 25, 2016
Hindustan Times also reported that Akhilesh dropped three ministers he sacked — Shadab Fatima, Om Prakash Singh, Narad Rai as well as serving minister Gayatri Prasad Prajapati, from the list All these ministers were close confidantes of Shivpal Yadav. Akhilesh’s confidante Pawan Pandey, however, made it to the list. Interestingly, Pandey was expelled by Shivpal According to a report by CNN- News 18, Akhilesh has announced his name on two seats from Bundelkhand. Reports said that the chief minister is most likely to contest from Babina and Mahoba constituency for the upcoming Assembly polls. In his list, Akhilesh also refused to recognise the merger between SP and the Quami Ekta Dal, something he had opposed earlier too but was overruled by Mulayam and Shivpal. The Uttar Pradesh polls are scheduled to happen early in 2017, and 2016 has remained a tense year for the party. Akhilesh and Shivpal Yadav have continuously sparred with each other despite the tentative truce Mulayam Singh Yadav brokered between the two. The latest power-play has confused party workers because they are now unsure about the status of the list of people who will get the ticket to run in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.
 "Charlie Kirk, shot dead in Utah, once said gun deaths are 'worth it' to save Second Amendment")
 "From governance to tourism, how Gen-Z protests have damaged Nepal")
 "Did Russia deliberately send drones into Poland’s airspace?")
 "Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages: Qatar PM after Doha strike")
 "Charlie Kirk, shot dead in Utah, once said gun deaths are 'worth it' to save Second Amendment")
 "From governance to tourism, how Gen-Z protests have damaged Nepal")
 "Did Russia deliberately send drones into Poland’s airspace?")
 "Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages: Qatar PM after Doha strike")
