Samajwadi Party peace talks fail, Shivpal Yadav quits posts

The crisis deepened in the Yadav clan and high drama continued till late Thursday evening with Shivpal Yadav resigning from the state Cabinet and chief minister Akhilesh Yadav rejecting his resignation. Mr Shivpal Yadav also quit as the party’s state unit chief and sent his resignation to party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav.

On Tuesday, Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Shivpal Yadav's nephew, Mr Akhilesh Yadav, had stripped his uncle of coveted portfolios, which included finance and PWD ministries, and shifted him to the low-profile Jan Kalyan Samiti ministry. Mr Shivpal Yadav had then played down his demotion, saying, "It is the discretion of the chief minister.”

But on Thursday, soon after Mr Shivpal Yadav quit, his wife Sarla Yadav also quit as the chairperson of a cooperative bank and his son, Aditya Yadav, resigned from the post of chairman of Pradeshik Cooperative Federation.

With the shadow of a possible split in Samajwadi Party looming, some felt that with Mr Shivpal Yadav sending in his resignation both as minister and state unit chief, the first round in the clan war had gone to Mr Akhilesh Yadav. Another section, however, did not rule out the possibility of Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav dismissing Mr Akhilesh Yadav and taking over as chief minister in a retaliatory strike.

So far Mulayam Singh Yadav, Shivpal Yadav, along with party MP Amar Singh, have closed ranks, while SP supremo’s cousin, Ramgopal Yadav, has joined forces with the chief minister.

Earlier on Thursday, Mulayam Singh Yadav had rushed to Lucknow for damage control and to keep the party intact till the elections. He held talks with Mr Shivpal Yadav, but the chief minister did not visit his father till late evening.

Later in the day, Mr Shivpal Yadav met the chief minister for about 40 minutes. A couple of hours later, Mr Shivpal Yadav sent his two resignations.

On Thursday morning, making it clear that if need be he was wiling to take Mr Akhilesh Yadav head on, Mr Shivpal Yadav had indicated that given his "vast experience”, he could run “both the party and the government, if need be."

Earlier, the anti-Akhilesh camp had endorsed Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav’s move to appoint Mr Shivpal Yadav as the party chief, saying that of the 220 MLAs in SP’s kitty, over 150 are "loyal" to Shivpal Yadav. They had also claimed that, "unlike Akhilesh, Shivpal Yadav is aware of grassroot politics and has a direct rapport with a majority of the party workers."

The chief minister's camp maintained that "Akhilesh is the main vote catcher. Elections are being fought under his leadership. He should have the final say in ticket distribution and selecting candidates."

With Mr Shivpal Yadav appointed as the state unit chief, this is unlikely to happen.

Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav reiterated on Thursday that "Shivpal will stay as state unit chief."

Responding to Ram Gopal Yadav's remark during the day that he was made party chief though there was no such provision, Mr Shivpal said, "It's up to the party president (Mulayam Singh). He can take any decision as per party constitution." Mr Shivpal Yadav played down losing important portfolios, saying,"It is the discretion of the chief minister. I cannot question that." He then quickly added; "I have a bigger responsibility. It's much more important than holding onto portfolios.We have to return to power. I was state president in 2011 and now netaji has once again given me this responsibility."

Digging the knife deeper he then said, "No one can disobey Netaji's order."

The Shivpal camp also pointed finger at Ramgopal Yadav by saying that he being a "cousin, is trying to drive a wedge in Mulayam clan."