Chinks appear in SP alliance, Shivpal to strike out
Highlights
- Shivpal accused the SP of betrayal despite full commitments from his side
- He has announced that his party will contest the local body elections as a separate political entity
- Several other allies had already expressed their displeasure with the Samajwadi Party
Akhilesh Yadav's estranged uncle Shivpal Yadav, apparently miffed at being excluded from the list of star campaigners of the Samajwadi Party for the Lok Sabha bypolls, has now said that his Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party Lohia (PSPL) will independently contest the upcoming municipal elections in the state.
"We will now charter an independent course to fight all its future political battles," he said on Thursday.
Shivpal accused the SP of betrayal despite full commitments from his side and announced that his party will contest the local body elections as a separate political entity.
"Last few months have been the most 'testing times' of my life. I joined hands with the SP ahead of the assembly polls keeping in mind the sentiments of the party workers. I was completely committed to SP but what I got back in return was betrayal. The result of this betrayal is that today, the Samajwadi Party is sitting in the opposition," he said.
Allies unhappy with Samajwadi Party
The Mahan Dal had already severed its ties with the SP. It was rather direct and blunt and its president Keshav Dev Maurya has accused Akhilesh Yadav of being surrounded by sycophants and valuing only those allies who believe in arm-twisting.
SP veteran and former MP, Reoti Raman Singh, too has expressed his displeasure at being denied a Rajya Sabha ticket by the party.
Another alliance partner, SBSP chief Om Prakash Rajbhar, is also unhappy that despite having six MLAs, none of his party leaders has been given a ticket in any of the three elections.
Last month too, the SBSP chief had made a veiled attack on the SP chief when he said that Akhilesh Yadav was "too used to air-conditioned room politics".
All the allies are smarting over the fact that they were ignored in the Rajya Sabha and Legislative Council polls by Akhilesh Yadav.
(With inputs from IANS)
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