Lucknow: Amid infighting within the Yadav clan, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Monday called for a meeting with Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and state party head Shivpal Singh Yadav at his residence in Lucknow at 5:30 p.m.
Monday's meeting takes place a day after Sunday's dramatic events when Akhilesh sacked his uncle Shivpal Yadav from his Cabinet for the second time in a month. Many considered this to be a direct challenge to his father Mulayam, who has been promoting Shivpal over him.
Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav exchanged heated words on Monday at the SP meeting, with the party supremo making clear his support for Amar Singh, describing him as his "brother" and Shivpal Yadav as "mass leader".
However, Mulayam made it clear that Akhilesh Yadav will remain in the party.
The SP supremo said the party was facing a difficult situation and party members should not fight with each other but his words had little effect as chaos broke out at the venue and heated words were exchanged on the dais leading to an abrupt end of the meeting.
The crisis in the ruling party seems to have worsened with Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav shouting at each other at the meeting.
Fresh clashes broke out outside the venue with supporters of rival sides exchanging blows, giving police a tough time.
At a meeting of party legislators, MPs and ministers, which ended abruptly, Mulayam said, "I can't tolerate anything against Amar and Shivpal. Amar saved me from going to jail".
Mulayam said mere donning of red cap (colour of SP's cap) does not make one Samajwadi.
Admonishing Akhilesh, the party supremo said he had been abusing Amar Singh. "Amar has helped me a lot. If Amar was not there I would have been in jail, he is like my brother," Mulayam said, describing the Rajya Sabha member as his brother.
"Some ministers are just sycophants," he added. "I cannot forget the work done by Shivpal Yadav," he said while describing Shivpal as a mass leader.
"We are facing difficult situation, we should remove our weakness and not fight with each other," Mulayam said.
Akhilesh Yadav on Monday broke down while addressing supporters at the Samajwadi Party and offered to resign from the top job if his father Mulayam Singh Yadav so desired.
He said that he was hurt when his father Mulayam removed him as the party chief but dismissed reports of him planning to form a new party.
"People are saying a new party will be formed. Who is forming a new party? I am not," Akhilesh said.
Reports suggested that the party was inching closer to a split when Akhilesh sacked his uncle Shivpal Yadav along with three other ministers close to him on Sunday.
Shivpal Yadav countered Akhilesh’s claims and said that the CM has told him about floating a new party.
“Akhilesh Yadav had said to me that he will form another party, he said it, he said it to me. We can not tolerate liars in SP, we just can't,” Shivpal said on Monday.
Shivpal, who is the party’s state president, had expelled SP MP Prof. Ram Gopal Yadav from the party for six years. Shivpal Yadav alleged that Prof. Ram Gopal Yadav was working at the behest of the BJP to save his son and daughter-in-law from the CBI. He said that the two were involved in the Yadav Singh-Noida Authority corruption case.
Ram Gopal Yadav had triggered off the events by dropping a letter bomb on Sunday morning in which he said that those who were opposing Akhilesh Yadav should not be allowed to succeed.
