Mulayam says no plans to float new party; Akhilesh praises 'neta ji'

Mulayam also hit out at the Yogi Adityanath govt for the lathicharge on students at BHU

Mulayam Singh Yadav, the veteran socialist leader, on Monday once again checkmated the rival Samajwadi Party (SP) faction opposing his son and SP President Akhilesh Yadav by announcing there was no proposal to float a new political party or coalition at the moment.

Talking to newspersons at the Lohia Trust office here, Trust president Mulayam remained non-committal to the suggestions of the rival SP faction purportedly helmed by him and his younger brother Shivpal Singh Yadav.

"There is no proposal to form a new party... Will let you know when there is any such development," he said.

Over the past several months, there had been numerous instances when it was perceived that Mulayam and Akhilesh were sparring over the issues of the leadership of the party and its policies.

The rivalry has cost Mulayam the post of party president and he has also been relegated to the non-executive position of SP mentor. While Mulayam has always publicly supported Shivpal in the running feud with Akhilesh, he has never really executed any step that could impede his son’s hold on the SP or pose a future challenge to his leadership.

Even on Monday, Mulayam said that although he did not approve of several of Akhilesh's political decisions after he became the party president, as his father he would always bless him.

Shivpal, who had spoken with Mulayam this morning, was conspicuous by his absence at the press conference. "Shivpal is in Etawah and Mainpuri for some urgent work," said Mulayam when asked about the matter. Shivpal has talked of floating a Samajwadi Front to uphold socialist values after his differences with his nephew, Akhilesh.

Even as the press conference was underway, Akhilesh tweeted from his official handle: "Netaji Zindabad, Samajwadi Party Zindabad."

In the recent SP state convention held here on Saturday, while Mulayam and Shivpal were not invited, long-time Mulayam aides Beni Prasad Verma and Mohd Azam Khan were present on the dais with Akhilesh. This had given credence to the speculation that the so-called SP and Yadav family feud was, in fact, a cleverly crafted script by Mulayam to gradually strengthen Akhilesh's hold on the party while weeding out all possible thorns in his path.

However, Mulayam expressed his displeasure over the treatment meted out to him by Akhilesh, who had publicly announced, while taking over the party president's post on January 1, 2017, that he would hand over the post to Mulayam three months after the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.

"One who does not honour his words can never succeed as a Samajwadi... One who is not faithful to his father, can't be faithful to anyone," Mulayam quipped.

Mulayam also attacked the Narendra Modi government over its unfulfilled promises, high petrol prices, the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), and demonetisation, which he stressed had caused massive hardships for common people.

"Uttar Pradesh government has utterly failed and there is a rise in communalism," he said while flaying the Yogi Adityanath regime for the lathicharge on girls in the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and the harassment of girl students in hostels.

Mulayam further said he had been the UP chief minister thrice and during his tenure, there was an abundant supply of power, however, under Yogi, even Lucknow was facing power cuts.

He also flayed the state government over the crop loan waiver, saying that the farmers were hoping for the complete waiver of farm loans.