Uttar Pradesh: Akhilesh Yadav's own house divided, SP chief makes bid for Opposition unity against Yogi Adityanath govt

As fissures between Akhilesh Yadav and his uncle Shivpal Yadav seem to be reopening, Samajwadi Party unanimously elected the former as the leader of the SP legislature party at a meeting of the newly-elected party MLAs in Lucknow on Saturday. The meeting where Shivpal claimed he was not invited.

With this, the SP president is all set to become the Leader of Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly.

Yadav, who won from the Karhal seat in Mainpuri in the Assembly polls, had recently resigned from his Lok Sabha membership from Azamgarh.

Reopening old wounds

The uncle-nephew relationship soured in 2016 after Akhilesh sacked his uncle from his cabinet. Following that Akhilesh became the chief of the Samajwadi Party in January 2017 and Shivpal went on to form the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (PSP).

But last year they had put their differences aside during the panchayat poll in Etawah and won 18 out of 24 wards. Continuing with the new-found bonhomie the two parties fought the recently concluded Assembly elections together with Shivpal fighting from Jaswantnagar on an SP ticket.

But the relationship seems to be souring again.

Lucknow | I was not invited to the party meeting. I waited for 2 days and cancelled all my programs for this meeting but I wasn't invited. I am an MLA from Samajwadi Party but still not invited: SP MLA Shivpal Singh Yadav on party's legislative meeting pic.twitter.com/DOyCXV9cPg

— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) March 26, 2022

Shivpal has alleged that he waited for two days to be invited to the party’s legislative meeting but he did not get an invite. While speaking to media, Shivpal said, “I was not invited to the party meeting. I waited for two days and cancelled all my programs for this meeting but I wasn’t invited. I am an MLA from Samajwadi Party but still not invited.”

When reporters asked him about his next step, he said he would take the next decision after consulting his supporters.

Responding to Shivpal, SP leader Naresh Uttam Patel said, “Shivpal Yadav is the leader of an ally party. Alliance leaders have been called for a meeting on 28 March."

Earlier, there were speculation that Shivpal could be made the Leader of the Opposition. However, with Akhilesh deciding to stay on in the Assembly it seems he had made up his mind to challenge Yogi Adityanath by becoming the leader of the Opposition party. And he did not want competition.

With input from agencies

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