Lucknow: Senior Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Yadav today dismissed reports of differences within the party and with his nephew and CM Akhilesh Yadav over the merger of Qaumi Ekta Dal with the SP.
“Everything is fine within the party. It is CM's prerogative to decide who should be assigned what duty and who should be made minister,” Yadav told news agency ANI.
Facing criticism for overseeing the merger of the Quami Ekta Dal, a party led by mafia don Mukhtar Ansari who has been in jail for the murder of a BJP MLC, Yadav said, “First of all, Quami Ekta Dal wasn't Mukhtar Ansari's party. Afzal Ansari was party president.”
“We have only inducted Afzal Ansari and his brother Sibakatullah Ansari in party (merger), we haven't inducted Mukhtar Ansari,” he added.
Amid reports of the CM being miffed at the party’s decision to allow the QED to merge with the SP, Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday sacked senior minister Balram Yadav for engineering the merger of the political party headed by a mafia don despite his stiff opposition to the idea.
However, Shivpal also stressed that the merger was approved by party supremo and Akhilesh’s father Mulayam Singh Yadav. Shivpal also took the opportunity to underline that it was Netaji who called the shots in the affairs of the party and not his son Akhilesh.
Mukhtar's two brothers MLA Sibaghtullah and Afazal Ansari joined the SP in the presence of senior minister Shivpal Yadav, and stressed that Mukhtar, who is currently in jail was not part of the merger.
Eastern UP leaders like Abu Azmi (currently MLA from Maharashtra), Balram Yadav, Ambika Chowdhry and Narad Rai had lobbied in favour of Mukhtar, with the SP top brass including Shivpal, according to a report by Economic Times.
Akhilesh Yadav made his displeasure known against the QED merger when he said "if our workers strengthen the party organisation till the booth level, we will form the government again, without any help form other parties". Earlier, Akhilesh had earned kudos for putting his foot down to stop mafia don DP Yadav from joining the SP.
