New party with Mulayam Singh Yadav at helm?

Lucknow: After Samajwadi patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, it is now his younger brother Shivpal Yadav and daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav who have mounted a veiled attack on Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav.

As the attacks from within the family and the party increase, talks of the seniors leaders forming a separate party have also started gaining ground.

Sources close to Mr Shivpal Yadav said that preparations were afoot to float a new political outfit under the leadership of Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav and bring back all dedicated Samajwadis who had left the party because of Mr Akhilesh Yadav.

“A large section of the party has either left or receded into a shell because of Mr Akhilesh Yadav’s style of functioning. The rout of the party in the elections has apparently not been an eye opener for Akhilesh and he has not even discussed the defeat with his father. If this continues, the Samajwadi Party will disintegrate very soon”, said a close aide of Mr Shivpal Yadav.

Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav, on Saturday, had mounted his fiercest attack on his son Akhilesh when he said that he had faced maximum humiliation at the hands of his son. “Jo apne baap ka nahi, who aap ka kahan hoge?” he stated.

Mr Shivpal Yadav said in Mainpuri on Sunday evening that he would soon take a “major decision with the blessings of Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav)”.

“I have been humiliated and Netaji has been insulted. Those children who do not respect their elders can never prosper in life,” he said at a school function. Aparna Yadav, the younger daughter-in-law of Mulayam Singh Yadav,  also came out openly against the SP leadership when she said, “I was not defeat by EVM machines but by my own people”.

Aparna was speaking at thanksgiving function for her party workers when she said, “When people close to you hurt you, the pain is maximum. If Krishna could lead Arjun into the battle of Mahabharata, the elders in my party could have also supported me”. Samajwadi leader and member of the Samajwadi state executive, Sudhir Singh, has also sent his resignation from the party to Mr Akhilesh Yadav.

In his two page letter, he has said that the party should introspect on the reason for the defeat and even leveled unprintable charges against the leadership.

“As the party president, you must analyse the working of those who are close to you. Those who did not possess even a bicycle are now moving around in BMWs. Where did this prosperity come from?” he asked in the letter.

SP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia has also quit the party to join the BJP He alleged that the Samajwadi Party had “moved away from its principles.”