Fissures in UP's first family

Samajwadi Party leader Totaram Yadav was arrested last month for allegedly rigging a panchayat election in Uttar Pradesh three months ago. Totaram Yadav, the chairman of a state-level board, was caught on video stuffing ballot papers into ballot boxes. An FIR was filed but no action was taken against him. To prevent his arrest, he petitioned the Allahabad High Court, but did not appear in court. He did attend public functions, but no one dared lay a finger on him. Curiously, he was arrested at a function where Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's uncle, Shivpal Yadav, and brother-in-law, Tej Pratap Yadav, were present. Or to be precise, the police arrested him the minute Shivpal Yadav and Tej Pratap Yadav left the venue. This was probably Akhilesh Yadav's way of sending a message to his uncle - which indicates how deep the rift in the family is. However, he was released within three hours of his arrest on medical grounds.