The ruling Samajwadi Party is seeming to hurtle towards a split just before assembly elections in the state, after Akhilesh Yadav released a parallel list of candidates, which includes several party leaders who are close to him and who did not make it to the list released by his father, Mulayam Singh.
Here are the top 10 developments in this big story:
Akhilesh Yadav's list of 235 includes 187 candidates who also feature in his father's list, and tomorrow's meeting will be watched keenly for how many of these party leaders attend, signaling that they are with Mulayam Singh.The chief minister's defiant move yesterday was seen as a last-ditch effort to pressure his father into reconsidering the candidacy of his key aides after they failed to reach common ground at a meeting in Lucknow.
Mulayam Singh Yadav attempted a compromise when on Thursday night his brother and the Samajwadi Party's UP chief Shivpal Yadav named 68 more candidates, including two Akhilesh loyalists. But that has left Akhilesh Yadav unmoved.Mulayam Singh's cousin and staunch Akhilesh Yadav supporter Ram Gopal Yadav said he sees no scope for a compromise. "When there are two candidates to be chosen, everybody is divided... Those who oppose Akhilesh he will not be able to see the Vidhan Sabha."
But he also ruled out a split saying, "Every political party goes through some trouble. You will soon see that things would be fine during the elections.Both Shivpal and Akhilesh, engaged in a bitter power struggle for months, had recommended candidates. Mulayam Singh Yadav's list, announced in Akhilesh's absence, distinctly favoured brother Shivpal, in what was seen as another big snub to the 43-year-old chief minister.
The official Samajwadi Party list has on it several people backed by Shivpal and whose candidacy has been fiercely opposed by Akhilesh Yadav, including a gangster-turned-politician who faces 44 serious criminal charges.Mulayam Singh Yadav has also repeatedly said no one will be projected as the party's presumptive chief minister, which is unacceptable to Akhilesh Yadav's supporters, who say the young chief minister is the party's face.
The Samajwadi Party's internal strife gives an added advantage to the BJP and Mayawati's BSP in the mega battle for Uttar Pradesh, being pegged as the semi final before national elections in 2019. Elections to UP's 403 assembly seats are expected to be announced by the Election Commission any day now.
In Akhilesh Yadav's bitter feud with his uncle - constructed around who shall call the shots in selecting candidates for the UP elections - Mulayam Singh Yadav has consistently sided with Shivpal Yadav.
No comments:
Post a Comment