Hours after reports of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav expelling four leaders close to Shivpal Yadav comes a fresh salvo at the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister.
Aparna Yadav, the younger daughter-in-law of Mulayam, has now asked Akhilesh to step down as the party national president in his father's favour, according to news agency IANS.
The statement of Aparna, wife of Mulayam Singh's younger son Prateek Yadav, coincides with the expulsion of some Shivpal Yadav proteges like Deepak Mishra by Akhilesh for alleged anti-party activities.
Mulayam had on Sunday told a gathering in Mainpuri that anointing Akhilesh as Chief Minister in 2012 was a ‘big mistake’ after which the party fortunes nosedived.
Party sources said that a Samajwadi Party split is imminent and there is a waiting game on as to who blinks first.
While discontent has been brewing in the party since August 2016, the two warring factions have so far continued their bickering within the Samajwadi Party.
After the SP's drubbing in the February-March assembly elections, Mulayam Singh Yadav's younger brother Shivpal Yadav has voiced his criticism of Akhilesh openly.
Sources close to Akhilesh, however, say that he is the undisputed leader of the Samajwadi Party and that there is no space at the top for anyone else.
