No split in SP? Shivpal says launching new party, Mulayam says no such plan

Nobody in the family or party wants the Samajwadi Party to split, Mulayam Singh Yadav said

A day after Shivpal Yadav declared that he would float a new outfit 'Samajwadi Secular Morcha, with elder brother Mulayam Singh Yadav as its chief, Samajwadi Party (SP) patriarch Mulayam on Saturday said Shivpal had not spoken to him regarding this announcement.

“I have not met Shivpal for the last one week... He has not spoken to me as yet about it (the front)… I will talk to him,” Mulayam told Hindustan Times on Saturday in Lucknow. 

“As for the front, he has simply given a statement. I will talk to him, pacify him,” Mulayam added. 

Dismissing a split in the party, the senior leader asserted that no one in the family or party wanted a split in the 25-year-old Samajwadi Party.

“Nobody in the family or party wants it to split. What will they get if the party divides and weakens?” he said. 

Mulayam, however, accepted that there was still a conflict between Shivpal and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav. 

“He (Shivpal) is hurt. I don’t know why my son Akhilesh Yadav doesn’t like him. I will always stand by my brother who has struggled and suffered so much for me and the party,” Mulayam said.

After SP's dismal performance in the UP Assembly elections, Mulayam blamed Akhilesh for the poor show. "Voters understood that someone who is not loyal to his father cannot be loyal to anyone," Mulayam had said. 

On Friday, speaking to reporters in Etawah, Shivpal said, “For social justice, Samajwadi Secular Morcha will be formed. Netaji (Mulayam Singh) will be its national president.” (Read more)

Previously, Shivpal had asserted that the split could be prevented if Akhilesh were to surrender the reins of the party to his father Mulayam within three months.

Shivpal didn’t mention whether the front would contest elections against SP, or bring other socialist outfits together. (Read more)