Fissures appear once again in Samajwadi clan

Lucknow: Fissures within the Samajwadi clan keep emerging from time to time, even though its leaders insist that all is now well within the family. Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav has so far been supporting West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on the ongoing controversy over the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam, but his sister-in-law Aparna Yadav has given a statement that is bound to embarrass the party.

Aparna Yadav, Mulayam Singh Yadav’s younger daughter-in-law, has supported the NRC draft list and has said that Ms Banerjee should not support the presence of illegal migrants in Assam. “There is no problem with lawful immigrants. The problem arises because of those who come into the country illegally. I think Mamataji should not have made a statement supporting illegal immigrants. She should ponder upon it, it’s a national security matter,” Ms Aparna Yadav told PTI. She supported the stand taken by the BJP on the illegal immigrants’ issue, that is certainly not going to be welcomed in the party which is now preparing to battle the BJP over the issue.

In another development that points to the divisions within the family, senior SP leader Shivpal Singh Yadav told reporters in Unnao that while he had no qualms about talking to party chief Akhilesh Yadav, he did not have any dialogue with his nephew (Akhilesh). This clearly indicates that the relationship between uncle and nephew is far from being normal.

On Sunday, meanwhile, Akhilesh Yadav and his father Mulayam Singh Yadav separately visited the Janeshwar Misra Park to pay tribute to the late socialist leader. Speaking there, Mr Akhilesh Yadav attacked the Yogi Adityanath government for having targeted him over the bungalow issue, and said: “I have information that some people went into my official bungalow after I had vacated it and they carried hammers and sickles with them. Now I am being blamed for the damage done to the bungalow. I will give a reward of `11 lakhs to anyone who reveals the name of the person who is responsible for the damage caused to the bungalow”, he said.

However, no senior SP leader supported Mr Yadav’s claims on the controversy over his official bungalow.