New Delhi: It’s a battle for survival between the chacha-bhatija of Uttar Pradesh’s first family. Though the party supremo, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav made it amply clear that he is still the boss and doused the fire raging in the house of Yadavs for the time being, his brother, Shivpal Yadav and son, chief minister, Akhilesh Yadav too have made it clear that the fight for survival has only begun.
Speculations are rife that Shivpal Yadav could also bargain for the post of deputy chief minister for his son, Aditya, who also resigned on Thursday from the post of chairman of Pradeshik Cooperative Fed-eration.
In this game of throne, Akhilesh Yadav is aware that given an opportunity, his uncle, Shivpal Yadav would move in with full might to snatch power from him. Akhilesh on Friday said, “the fight is not about me or with me. The fight is for the chair I am occupying.”
Shivpal Yadav’s ambition to be the face of the party took a hit when Mulayam Singh chose his son as his successor during the last assembly polls. To make matters worse, Akhilesh had also replaced him as the state unit chief.
Yet unlike Akhilesh, who’s more active on the social media, Shivpal has been the organisation man. His hold in the organisation became evident as he flexed his muscles on Friday and virtually forced Akhilesh to step back.
Akhilesh camp is aware that unlike his uncle, the Chief Minister does not have grassroots support and this could prove costly in the long run. As long as ‘Netaji’ is there, the party will remain intact, a senior party functionary said. Without Mulayam Singh Yadav’s active intervention or a pro-active role, the party will split in the middle and Shivpal has the strength to launch his own outfit, an SP functionary said.
Of the 220 MLAs, over 150 are with Shivpal, the functionary pointed out. After being shunted out from his portfolios by his nephew, Shivpal realised he has to fight to survive and accepting any package offered by Akhilesh at this juncture could be a political harakiri.
He unleashed his supporters on the party and the high command buckled. The Akhilesh camp also knows as long as Shivpal Yadav remains, his ambition of being an “independent” Chief Minister would be there. It may be recalled that addressing party workers recently, Mulayam Singh Yadav too had said, “if Shivpal leaves, party will split.”
