Lucknow: He fought his family to position himself at the helm of the party. And just when he seemed to have gained full control of his political career, he is facing another battle, again, from within his family and also his own party.

For UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, the year may have started on a good note with his coronation as head of the Samajwadi Party, but as the weeks roll by, the challenges in the ongoing elections are mounting by the day and the biggest obstacles are coming either from his own family or his own party.

Just when the Samajwadi party seemed perfectly poised for elections after sewing up an alliance with the Congress, Samajwadi patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav spoilt the party by announcing his disapproval of the alliance and even followed it up by encouraging his followers to contest as rebel candidates on seats allotted to the Congress.

Former SP minister Shivpal Yadav further queered the pitch by announcing that he would form a new party after March 11. According to sources, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav will be campaigning only on two seats — Jaswantnagar where Mr Shivpal Yadav is a candidate and Lucknow Cantt seat from where his younger daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav is contesting.

He is likely to issue appeals for his loyalists who are contesting from other parties after being denied tickets by Mr Akhilesh Yadav. This will not only create confusion among SP cadres but will also put a strain on the SP-Congress ties.

“This is Akhilesh’s family matter but he should resolve it at the earliest because we certainly do not want his party leaders damaging us in the polls”, said a senior Congress leader while talking to this correspondent on phone from Delhi on Tuesday.

Besides, the Samajwadi Party is presently facing the maximum number of rebel candidates. All the sacked ministers who have been denied ticket by Mr Akhilesh Yadav are now contesting either as rebel candidates or on symbols of other parties.

The chief minister, who is also the SP president, denied ticket to UP minister Ravidas Mehrotra on Monday night after the latter had filed his nomination.

Mr Mehrotra was informed that his seat had been given to the Congress but he has refused to withdraw from the fray.

UP minister Sharda Shukla has also filed his nomination on Monday as a RLD candidate after being denied ticket from Sarojini Nagar seat.

Earlier, two sacked ministers Ambica Chaudhary and Narad Rai joined the BSP and are contesting from their respective seats in Ballia as BSP candidates.

“Mr Akhilesh Yadav is allowing his personal likes and dislikes to rule over ticket distribution. For him, loyalty to his father is the deciding factor and we have been denied tickets because of this”, said former SP leader Ambica Chaudhary.