Taking a jibe at Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, his uncle and Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) president Shivpal Singh Yadav on Tuesday said his “political immaturity” led to the defeat of the SP in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. This was Shivpal’s first reaction in the public, when the SP told him in a letter that he was free to go wherever he thought he would get more respect, an apparent jibe at his growing closeness with the BJP.
The SP had also written a similar letter to another ally, Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) president Om Prakash Rajbhar. “I came to know about the letter from the Samajwadi Party only through the media. This is a sign of his political immaturity and nothing more. It would have been better if I was expelled from the party and the legislature party.
He said, ‘You have seen where the party was and where it has reached now. Had that maturity, the party would have formed its government in 2022 and Akhilesh would have been the chief minister. “It would have been better if I was given ‘mukti’ (relief) from the party. When such letters are being written to me, I am not invited to legislature party meetings or my suggestions are not accepted, there would have been no resentment if the emancipation was given,” he said.
Shivpal had recently contested the state elections on an SP ticket and won from his traditional Jaswant Nagar seat in Etawah district. The SP had said in a letter written on the party’s Twitter handle on Saturday, “Hon’ble Shivpal Singh Yadav, if you feel that you will get more respect then you are free to go there.” Shivpal and Rajbhar formed the National Democratic Alliance. After supporting NDA’s presidential candidate Draupadi Murmu, who defeated Yashwant Sinha, the opposition candidate also supported the SP.
Before the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, the “uncle-nephew” had reached an agreement at the behest of party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav. However, the friendship between the two did not last long and they parted ways after suffering defeat at the hands of the BJP.
Shivpal formed his party in 2018 after being sidelined by Akhilesh. When asked about Rajbhar, Shivpal said, “I haven’t spoken to him yet, though I have met him courtesy call.” Shivpal, however, appeared soft on senior SP leader Azam Khan, saying, “I will stand by him whenever required.” The relationship between Khan and Akhilesh, who was the Muslim face of SP since the days of Mulayam Singh Yadav, has also soured since the assembly elections.
On issues related to minorities, Shivpal said, “We have always raised their issues and will continue to raise them as and when required.”
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