Shivpal Yadav winning Samajwadi Party power play

Amidst changing equations in the first family of the Samajwadi Party (SP), the party general secretary, Ram Gopal Yadav, appears to have been marginalised, while the state minister, Shivpal Yadav, has emerged taller with the backing of Mulayam Singh Yadav.

In a sign of further marginalisation of Mr Ram Gopal Yadav, the SP chief has apparently okayed the Ansari brothers of the Qaumi Ekta Dal (QED) to contest on the symbol of SP. Incidentally, Mr Ram Gopal Yadav had been vociferously opposing any tie up of the party with the Ansari brothers.

“During the just concluded Assembly session of Uttar Pradesh, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav, in the presence of the state chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, told the Ansari brothers that they would contest the upcoming state polls on the bicycle symbol. Mr Ram Gopal Yadav had been opposing the admittance of the Ansari brothers, who hail from Mau, to join hands with SP,” sources close to the Samajwadi Party chief said.

Incidentally, Mr Shivpal Singh Yadav, who is election in-charge of SP in the state, had scripted the idea for the merger of the QED with the party. Sources said that Mr Shivpal Singh Yadav had been launching veiled attacks on Mr Ram Gopal Yadav in the recent times. The SP chief has also rejected another key intervention by Mr Ram Gopal Yadav in the poll preparations of the party in the state.

“At the behest of Mr Ram Gopal Yadav, two MLCs of the party were deputed to each district in UP to make assessment of the potentials of the probable candidates for the next year’s polls. They had also submitted a report following the completion of the exercise. However, the SP chief on the advice of Mr Shivpal Singh Yadav, has rejected the report on the grounds that the MLCs had no competencies to make such an assessment,” sources added.

According to sources, Mr Shivpal Singh Yadav’s allegations that a few leaders of the party had been indulging in the land-grabbing activities in the state is also being seen as a veiled attack on a couple of MLCs who are close to Mr Ram Gopal Yadav.

The ticket seekers for the next year’s elections are making a beeline for Mr Shivpal Singh Yadav and not his cousin whose office on Copernicus Marg in the national capital wears a deserted look, sources said.