UP polls: Mulayam junks alliance talks, fresh crisis in Samajwadi Party
Lucknow: The ruling Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh is heading towards a fresh crisis with differences emerging sharply on a number of issues.
While Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has been aggressively pushing for an alliance with the Congress so that “we can get more than 300 seats”, party president Mulayam Singh Yadav on Sunday night told a number of candidates that there would be no alliance and they should start working in their constituencies.
Some candidates who met him included those who have been named on the seats held by the Congress. “He almost made it clear that there would be no alliance and the party will contest all 403 seats,” a candidate said.
Mr Yadav had held detailed deliberations with party general secretary Amar Singh and state president Shivpal Yadav on Saturday but Prof. Ram Gopal Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav were not a part of these deliberations.
The CM, meanwhile, is now embarking on his campaign without informing the party of his route. "He will be campaigning on seats where he has candidates of his choice," said an aide, while a senior party office bearer said that they had no information of the CM's programme.
The CM has not been visiting the party office lately and neither has Shivpal Yadav met him for the past one month. “No one knows what is happening and the sense of unease in the party is growing. The candidates are in dilemma because they do not know what to do,” said a party functionary.
A senior minister in the Akhilesh government admitted that the crisis in the party was raising its head again. “A split seems imminent - we do not know whether it happens before elections of after elections,” he added.
Mulayam Singh Yadav, meanwhile, gave another jolt to his son on Sunday night when he appointed controversial minister Gayatri Prajapati as the party's national secretary. Mr Prajapati is said to be close to Mulayam Singh Yadav's younger son Prateek Yadav and is, therefore, disliked by the Akhilesh camp.
