Yadav pari-'war': Mulayam calls for meeting with Akhilesh and Shivpal today

Amid the turbulence within the Yadav clan, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Monday called for a meeting with Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and state party head Shivpal Singh Yadav at his residence here at 5

Today's meeting takes place a day after Sunday's dramatic events when Akhilesh sacked his uncle Shivpal Yadav from his Cabinet for the second time in a month. Many considered this to be a direct challenge to his father Mulayam, who has been promoting Shivpal over him.

Earlier today, extremely upset with the ongoing rift within the family and party, Mulayam Singh reprimanded his son Akhilesh Yadav and said that the priority at this point of time should be to decrease the differences instead of fighting with each other.

On the other hand, rejecting rumours of floating a new party, Akhilesh Yadav in an emotional speech addressed to his father Mulayam Singh Yadav said some leaders in the party were conspiring against him and added that he would fight against the wrong.

Hours later after Shivpal's sacking, Mulayam ordered the expulsion of his cousin Ram Gopal Yadav, considered to be Akhilesh loyalist, from the party for six years.

This was announced by Shivpal, who alleged that Ram Gopal was tarnishing the Samajwadi Party's image by colluding with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and attempting to weaken Mulayam's hold on the party.

Meanwhile, the supporters of both Akhilesh and Shivpal gathered outside the party office in Lucknow and engaged in competitive sloganeering.

The opposition parties are keeping a close tab of today's meeting amid speculations that the Samajwadi Party is headed for a split just before assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.