Samajwadi Party to split? 'Mulayam Singh Yadav could declare party split' say sources

Lucknow: After repeated failures in sorting differences with son Akhilesh, Samajwadi Party patriarch, Mulayam Singh could address a press conference on Saturday. According to the sources, Mulayam could declare his separation from son during the press conference, which will in turn lead to split in Samajwadi Party.

 

Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Friday, refused father Mulayam Singh Yadav's truce conditions: a key party post for Shivpal Yadav and continued party membership of Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh.

 

A Samajwadi Party source close to Mulayam said, “that the father had agreed to let the son remain the party's national president if he accepted these terms”.

 

But, he added, Akhilesh refused to meet uncle and bitter enemy Shivpal when he arrived at the chief minister's home carrying this message from Mulayam.

 

Akhilesh had at a disputed "national convention" of the party on Sunday replaced his father with himself as party national president, sacked Shivpal as state unit president and suspended Amar from the party.

 

"Amar and Shivpal told Netaji (Mulayam) this morning they were ready to quit the party to avoid a split before the Assembly elections. But Netaji scolded them and said he wouldn't let this happen," the source said.

 

"Later, Netaji sent Shivpal to congratulate Akhilesh as the party's new national president with the message that he accepts Shivpal as the party's national general secretary. But the chief minister refused to see his uncle."

 

 

As the deadlock continued, a visibly tearful Amar told reporters: "Mulayam is alone and without any power. I don’t have the strength to see this."

 

In oblique acknowledgement that Akhilesh has the numbers, he added: "A leader's stature is not decided by numbers but by his personality."

 

Amar claimed that Shivpal was a well-wisher of Akhilesh. "He has looked after Akhilesh since he was four years old. My contribution to his education and private life is no secret," he said.

 

He took a dig at Akhilesh: "The Ansari brothers and all those ministers have suddenly turned into good people for him. They were tainted when they were with Shivpal but now they are clean because they are singing his tune."

 

Quami Ekta Dal MLA Sibghatullah Ansari, known to be close to Shivpal, and transport minister Gayatri Prasad Prajapati, a political enemy of Akhilesh, had yesterday signed affidavits (meant for the Election Commission) supporting the chief minister as the party president.

 

Akhilesh had in June opposed the merger of the Quami, led by Sibghatullah's brother and gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari, with the Samajwadi Party. In September he had sacked Prajapati from his cabinet, although he was forced to take him back a few days later under pressure from Mulayam.

 

Prajapati and some other MLAs are believed to have signed both factions' affidavits, triggering speculation that it was an attempt to sabotage Akhilesh's claim before the poll panel.

 

Others felt that father and son were merely shadowboxing and wanted to bemuse the commission and drag the dispute on, with the idea of eventually jettisoning Shivpal.

 

Amar dubbed politics a "cruel" occupation where "loyal" amounted to "guilty".

 

"Shivpal is guilty because he stood by Akhilesh," he said. "We can fight outsiders successfully but we have been attacked and injured by our own."

 

Amar recited two lines from a song that featured in the 1967 Bollywood movie Upkar: "Tera apna khoon hi akhir tujhko aag lagayega/ Asmaan me udne waale mitti me mil jayega (Your own blood will destroy you in the end/ One who's up in the sky will be down in the dust)."

 

An emotional Shivpal had sung the opening line from the same song during an informal chat with reporters on Sunday night after Akhilesh had seized control of the party: " Kasme, waade, pyaar, wafaa sab, baaten hain baton ka kya (Promises, love and loyalty are mere words)...."

 

Amar and Shivpal met Mulayam several times today. Eventually, Amar returned to his home, Aishwarya, in Lucknow's Gomti Nagar.

 

Amar had named the house after actress Aishwarya Rai, daughter-in-law of Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan, in 2008. Although his ties with Bachchan later turned sour, Amar has retained the name.Mulayam's younger brothers Abhay Ram and Rajpal had last night spent two hours talking to the party patriarch at his home.

 

The duo then met Akhilesh at his home, separated from Mulayam's by a common wall.

 

Family sources said Abhay Ram told Mulayam not to expect Akhilesh to bow before him.

 

"Your son is not as flexible as you are. So don't expect him to change his decisions. He is popular in the party," Abhay Ram was quoted as telling Mulayam before meeting Akhilesh.

 

"You need to accept him with his good and bad habits, at least for the time being, because he is your rightful successor in any situation."

 

Ram Gopal Yadav, Akhilesh's chief adviser and cousin of Mulayam, today handed the Election Commission affidavits from "15 MPs, 212 MLAs and 58 MLCs" declaring their support for Akhilesh.

 

"The commission has asked us to submit seven sets of affidavits," he said, adding that he would also hand the poll panel affidavits from over 5,000 members and officials of the party's state and district executive committees. "We will submit the remaining affidavits on Monday."

 

The party has 229 MLAs, 67 MLCs, 5 Lok Sabha members and 19 Rajya Sabha members.

 

Mulayam's group too is expected to hand the poll panel affidavits from its supporters on Monday. The panel is to decide which faction will get the old Samajwadi election symbol, the cycle.