Yadav pari-‘war’: Shivpal cold-shoulders nephew CM Akhilesh, picks tainted names for 2017 polls

As Uttar Pradesh heads for Assembly elections, the ‘internal fight’ within the ruling Yadav family in the most populous state has derailed the Samajwadi Party.

Strong differences in family surfaced again on Monday for the second time within a month when the newly appointed state unit chief of the party, Shivpal Singh Yadav, snubbed his nephew CM Akhilesh Yadav while distributing tickets for the polls.

According to reports, Shivpal yesterday replaced as many as 14 candidates announced earlier and declared a list of seven new candidates for the polls without keeping the CM in loop. 

When Akhilesh was asked about his uncle’s decision, the CM said that he had no information of the announcement of the new candidates or the changes made in the list. 

Giving enough indications that his uncle was snubbing him while deciding on tickets, he said, “I do not have any information. I am at present inaugurating this building… Tomorrow (Tuesday) I will start metro work in Kanpur. In future, more candidates will be changed.”

“I have done my work and given up all my rights. It is now left to the people to decide. The one who has the trump card is the one who wins and you will have to wait for it. I cannot change certain habits of mine and will never stop speaking the truth,” Akhilesh, the chairman of the state parliamentary board that finalises the tickets, said.

On being quizzed further over the issue, he said, “Now I can either be truthful or political. I cannot change some of my habits.”

It should be recalled that the UP CM had earlier told India TV that ‘he be given a say in ticket distribution for the 2017 Assembly elections’.

“It is election time. We should all come together and work. I say I will give back everything but then I will say I should have the authority to distribute tickets. It will be my ‘pariskha’ (test) in elections,” Akhilesh had said.

On Monday, the ruling Samajwadi Party declared the names of candidates for nine Assembly seats besides changing the candidates of 14 constituencies ahead of the polls.

While Congress ‘turncoat’ Mukesh Srivastava has been given ticket from Prayagpur seat of Bahraich, Aman Mani Tripathi, son of Amar Mani Tripathi, who is in jail in connection with poetess Madhumita murder case, has been given ticket from Nautanwa seat in Mahrajganj district, the SP’s state president Shivpal said.

Subhash Rai from Jalalpur (Amebedkar Nagar), Mohd Irshad from Nakud (Saharanpur), Sanjay Yadav from Obra (Sonebhadra), Usha Verma from Sandi (Hardoi) are the others who were given SP tickets, he said. 

Besides them, the party state president also changed the candidates of 14 constituencies including that of Sardhana seat in Meerut, where Pintu Rana has been given the ticket instead of Akhilesh’s close aide Atul Pradhan.

Pradhan, former state president of SP Chhatra Sabha is considered close to Akhilesh. He had fought the 2012 polls against BJP Sangeet Som and ended up at the third place. 

The others who got the party tickets included Pakshalika Singh, who has replaced Vinod Kumar Sikarwar from Khairagarh seat, and Chandra Bhushan Singh Bundela alias Guddu Raja who replaced Jyoti Lodhi from Lalitpur.

A meeting was held at SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav’s residence late yesterday evening in which Ramgopal Yadav, Shivpal and Akhilesh were present. 

“There are no differences in the party over ticket distribution,” Ramgopal said.

When asked about giving ticket to Aman Mani, Ramgopal said he was given a ticket in 2012 also. 

On being asked about Akhilesh’s ignorance about the latest round of ticket distribution, Ramgopal added, “It was the work of state president and there is nothing wrong in it.”

The spat between Shivpal and Akhilesh started last month when SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav replaced his CM son with Shivpal as the party’s UP unit chief. The CM then took away key portfolios from his uncle, prompting him to quit all party and government posts. Shivpal, however, got back his portfolios later after Mulayam’s intervention. 

Uttar Pradesh is slate to go to polls early next year.