Ram Gopal Yadav reinstated in SP, Akhilesh gets boost

New Delhi: It was a “ghar wapsi” of sorts for expelled Samajwadi leader Ram Gopal Yadav, who was reinstated into the party by SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, his cousin, on Thursday. This appears to signal that Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, Mulayam’s son, might be prevailing in the internal SP feud over his uncle Shivpal Yadav. Ram Gopal, who supported Akhilesh, was earlier expelled from the SP for six years.

The move to reinstate Ram Gopal, seen as the SP’s “Delhi face and think-tank”, was also done to project a united front ahead of the coming UP elections. Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav had already clearly said the SP didn’t want any grand alliance to take on the BJP.

Both Ram Gopal’s reinstatement and the decision to go it alone in the UP polls are seen as Akhilesh tightening his grip on the party amid the family feud.

On Wednesday, Ram Gopal gave a fiery speech in Parliament against the government’s demonetisation move, where he suggested the government send its ministers to a village, adding: “Women will hit you on the head with a rolling pin.” He made several references to Mulayam in his speech, which appeared to hint at his imminent reinstatement.

“Mulayam can’t take any decision against me from the core of his heart... That’s why he revoked the decision,” he told reporters after being reinstated.

He said it was a “comeback” for him. “This is Netaji’s (Mulayam’s) kripa... He was never against me.”