In a veiled attack on Akhilesh Yadav, senior Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Singh Yadav today said the verdict in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election did not signify a loss of the party but that of “arrogance.”
Shivpal, who is leading from his traditional seat of Jaswant Nagar by nearly 15,000 votes, was sacked as state SP president by Akhilesh Yadav after a bitter war that saw him seize control of party affairs.
“This is not a defeat of socialists (Samajwadi), this is a defeat of arrogance. Netaji was removed (as national SP president) and I was insulted,” Shivpal told a local TV channel.
As per the latest trends coming in from the UP, SP was leading on 59 seats in comparison to BJP’s lead on 292 seats.
SP’s alliance partner Congress has been restricted to 11 Assembly constituencies in 403-member Assembly.
Akhilesh replaced Mulayam Singh Yadav as national president of the SP on January 1, who took the fight to the Election Commission. The polls body ultimately ruled in favour of Akhilesh, giving him control over the party and election symbol of “bicycle”.
