Having anointed himself the party’s National President, in a dramatic coup against his wrestler-turned-politician father, the 43-year-old Akhilesh Yadav is in full control of the party, party insiders say.
Notably, the accounts were till now operational with the signature of Shivpal Yadav, the estranged uncle of the 43-year-old Akhilesh Yadav.
Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav appears isolated in this battle, which has exposed rifts within the first family of Uttar Pradesh ahead of Assembly Elections.
Earlier this month, Akhilesh anointed himself the party’s National President, in a dramatic coup against his wrestler-turned-politician father.
Barring a few family members from his village Saifai in Etawah and not more than two dozen legislators, Mulayam Singh, the family patriarch, seems to be isolated, party leaders admit.
Cornered through an Akhilesh-backed resolution that left him with the mere tag of ‘marg darshak’ (mentor), Mulayam Singh is now left with very little leg room to manoeuvre his way back as the party’s unquestioned boss.
Egged on by uncle and Rajya Sabha member Ramgopal Yadav, Akhilesh Yadav has been making the right moves since raising the banner of revolt against his ageing father.
And Yadav junior has since gone on an offensive.
The Chief Minister enjoys the backing of 209 legislators and 51 MLCs, all of whom signed affidavits on Thursday swearing their support to his leadership.
On Friday, Shivpal Yadav, Mulayam Singh’s brother, met Akhilesh Yadav at the latter’s residence, apparently to discuss possible rapprochement.
“The Chief Minister is clear. There is no going back now. He is not averse to his father but cannot stake his political career on the palace intrigues in the family,” a close aide said.
Girl writes to EC in blood
A 15-year-old girl in Ghaziabad wrote a letter in blood to the election commission, requesting the poll panel to award the Samajwadi Party election symbol to her idol and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav.
The girl – a student of Class 10 – and her younger brother used a syringe at home and drew blood to write the letter, their father said. They tried to post the letter on Friday but were stopped by the father.
“I talked to my children to not be swayed by political incidents and concentrate on their studies,” said the father.
