Mulayam, Akhilesh indulge in tit-for-tat expulsions

On a day of fast-changing developments, warring factions led by Mulayam Singh Yadav and son Akhilesh Yadav today "expelled" from Samajwadi Party senior leaders owing allegiance to each other in tit-for-tat actions.
It began this morning with the "emergency national convention" of Samajwadi Party where Ram Gopal Yadav proposed resolutions for expelling Mulayam's long-time associate Amar Singh from the party and ousting the SP chief's brother Shivpal from the post of state unit president.
Not to take things lying down in the fight for supremacy, Mulayam later held parliamentary board meeting after which expulsion of his cousin Ram Gopal Yadav was announced, just a day after he was taken back in the SP after his earlier expulsion for six days declared on Friday.

Ram Gopal had been expelled on Friday, along with Akhilesh, from the party for six years but the decision was revoked a day later.
The parliamentary board upheld the expulsion of Ram Gopal from the party for six years, Mulayam Singh said in a letter released for the press.
Mulayam, who had declared the "national convention" as "unconstitutional" and warned of action against those taking part in it, cracked whip in the evening and expelled national vice president Kiranmoy Nanda and general secretary Naresh Agarwal from the party for participating in the meet convened by Ram Gopal.
In a letter, Mulayam, in the capacity of "Samajwadi Party president", said that Nanda took part in 'emergency national representatives' convention "which is not only unconstitutional but also amounts to anti-party activity".

At Ram Gopal's convention, Naresh Uttam Patel was named as new state unit chief in place of Shivpal.