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  India   Family wars cast a shadow over Samajwadi Party

Family wars cast a shadow over Samajwadi Party

Published : Jun 23, 2016, 7:04 am IST
Updated : Jun 23, 2016, 7:04 am IST

The merger of the Qaumi Ekta Dal with the Samajwadi Party on Tuesday and the subsequent sacking of UP minister Balram Yadav, who had played a key role in the merger, have blown the lid off the bickeri

The merger of the Qaumi Ekta Dal with the Samajwadi Party on Tuesday and the subsequent sacking of UP minister Balram Yadav, who had played a key role in the merger, have blown the lid off the bickering in Yadav clan which is now the biggest political family in north India.

The merger of the Qaumi Ekta Dal (QED), known by the presence of mafia don-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, was announced by senior minister Shivpal Singh Yadav on Tuesday and was preceded by a series of meetings between QED leaders and SP president Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Chief minister and state president Akhilesh Yadav apparently did not approve of decision but since he could not reverse the same, he vented his ire by dropping Balram Yadav.

The chief minister has also been reportedly upset with his uncle Shivpal Yadav’s decision to send a team of saints to Kairana. The saints, in their report, denied Hindu migration but said that the poor law and order in the district was responsible for families leaving the township.

This is not the first time that family tensions have dominated party matters. In December last year, Mr Shivpal Singh Yadav had expelled two aides of the chief minister Sunil Sajan and Anand Bhadauria.

The CM expressed his anger by not attending the Sefai Mahotsav after which the expulsion was revoked and only then did he attend the cultural event in his native village. Both the aides are now members of the legislative council.

More recently, the chief minister was reportedly upset with the inclusion of Sanjay Seth, a builder, in the Rajya Sabha list and made his displeasure clear by staying away from the nomination ceremony of the party candidates. Mr Seth is said to be close to Prateek Yadav, step brother of the chief minister.

In October 2012, the CM had sacked Vinod Singh Pandit from his ministry after the latter allegedly manhandled an official. Party sources feel that with the family tussle now out in the open, this will have a direct bearing on ticket distribution since Mr Shivpal Singh Yadav is the party’s in charge of UP polls. A minister who is close to Mr Shivpal Singh Yadav, said on Wednesday, “It is wrong to blame Shivpal Yadav for all these decision. He never takes a step without consulting Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav and whether it was the QED merger of the expulsion of two leaders, all the decisions had the approval of SP chief”. An Akhilesh aide, on the other hand, said that since Akhilesh would have to bear the consequences of the UP elections—whether good or bad—all decisions must be taken with his consent.

Location: India, Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow