Lucknow: Seeking to end the rift between him and and Samajwadi Party’s UP chief Shivpal Yadav, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday met his uncle Shivpal in Lucknow.
Speaking to reporters, Akhilesh said that there was no rift within the party.
“Politics is not a game, it is serious business. I have congratulated him (Shivpal Yadav) on being made UP chief of Samajwadi Party.”
Akhilesh said he would support Shivpal and called on all party workers to respect his father's decision to appoint his uncle as state party chief.
Akhilesh said that party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav’s orders were final. He earlier returned all 3 portfolios to Shivpal.
“His order is final…he has the final say,” Akhilesh Yadav said.
“We all need to work together, so that the Opposition does not get a chance to defame us,” Akhilesh said, appealing to his supporters.
The CM’s supporters had earlier reached the party office demanding his reinstatement as the state president.
Donning red caps and carrying posters of the Chief Minister and his wife Dimple Yadav, the supporters started for the party office this morning, raising slogans like "Akhilesh ko adyaksh banao" (make Akhilesh the state president), saying only "Akhilesh bhaiya could lead the party".
Akhilesh had on Friday announced that his disgruntled uncle Shivpal will be given back his portfolios and Gayatri Prajapati will be reinducted as Cabinet minister, issues which had triggered an all-out war in the party.
The supporters of Shivpal also made it to the party office, but after Akhilesh’s conciliatory statements, the situation seems to have been defused.
The fight within the Samajwadi Party erupted when Akhilesh stripped Shivpal of all three portfolios, in response to being removed as state party chief by his father. Ram Gopal, another SP leader and Akhilesh’s uncle, had backed the CM in the controversy, while blaming Amar Singh for the rift. Shivpal for his part had defended Amar Singh and said he would speak to SP supremo Mulayam Singh on all issues.
