Ram Gopal declares Akhilesh SP chief, gets expelled by Mulayam

Mulayam has convened a party's national convention on Jan 5 and termed today's meeting as illegal

The ongoing Samajwadi Party feud, with twists and turns over recent months, took a pivotal turn on Sunday with Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav announcing he was taking over as the new national party president, displacing his father and SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav.

A resolution to this effect was taken at an emergency party meeting convened by  general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav and attended by a little over 200 party legislators, ministers, MPs and key functionaries.

The meeting had been earlier termed illegal by Mulayam, who had warned of action against those attending. He has convened the party’s national convention on the coming Thursday, saying any resolution at Sunday’s meeting was null and void.

Another resolution at Sunday’s meet said it was decided to expel Rajya Sabha member Amar Singh from the party. He has been blamed by the Akhilesh faction for sowing discord in the party and the Yadav clan. Another resolution ousted Shivpal Singh Yadav as the party’s UP president. Later in the day, backward community leader Naresh Uttam Patel was appointed instead.

In retaliation, Mulayam announced the dismissal of Ramgopal Yadav from the SP for six years. A similar order on him was issued on Friday, with Akhilesh similarly expelled; Mulayam rescinded this on Saturday, party leader and cabinet minister Mohd Azam Khan played peacemaker.

This split in the SP is likely to blunt its electoral prospects as it prepares to fend off a tough challenge from both the Bharatiya Janata Party and Bahujan Samaj Party. However, most of the erstwhile Mulayam loyalists have switched sides to Akhilesh, after realising key leaders and the youth cadres were staunchly supporting him.

Soon after Patel was appointed as the UP chief, his supporters forcibly entered the party office at Vikramaditya Marg, amid shrill slogan shouting in favour of Akhilesh.

The fragile peace in the faction-ridden SP was recently broken when Mulayam started to announce candidates for the assembly polls and Akhilesh retorted by releasing his own list.

The two sides are now preparing for another round of battle before the Election Commission and possibly the courts for the right to use the SP’s electoral symbol, the bicycle.