Lucknow: Samajwadi president and UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav continues to sideline his estranged uncle Shivpal Yadav. In a latest development, Mr Shivpal Yadav’s name has not been included in the Samajwadi list of star campaigners for the upcoming Assembly elections.
The list features 18 names including party patriarch Mulayam Singh, Ms Dimple Yadav, vice-president Kiranmoy Nanda, UP ministers Mohd Azam Khan and Rajendra Chaudhary, SP MPs Prof Ram Gopal Yadav, Neeraj Shekhar , Naresh Agarwal and Jaya Bachchan.
This is the first time in the 25-year-old history of the party that Mr Shivpal Yadav will not be among the star campaigners.
Meanwhile, none of the party leaders were ready to comment on the development but Aparna Yadav, younger daughter-in-law of Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav said that discussions must have been held over this topic. “However, It will be better if you ask the elders in the party,” she said.
It is noteworthy that on Monday, Akhilesh had said that while the uncle-nephew relations between him and Shivpal would continue, he had gone ‘far ahead’ when it came to politics.
2 ‘Ranis’ face-off in Amethi poll
Amethi, this time, could witness a unique contest with the two wives of Congress MP Sanjay Singh (erstwhile Raja of Amethi) determined to confront each other in the poll arena.
Garima Singh, the estranged wife of the Congress leader, has been fielded by the BJP on the Amethi seat that is presently held by UP minister Gayatri Prajapati who belongs to the Samajwadi Party.
The Samajwadi Party has already announced the ticket to Gayatri Prajapati on this seat. Dr Sanjay Singh’s present wife Ameeta Singh, however, is determined to contest from her traditional seat.
Talking to reporters, she said, “Amethi is my home and family and I cannot leave it. I have informed the party high command that I will contest from here. I have been working in the constituency for years. Besides this is also the parliamentary constituency of Congress vice-president Rahul and people’s sentiments must be respected.”
She also criticized the BJP for fielding Garima Singh from her seat. “The BJP has shown its mentality and the level it can stoop to. They have given a ticket to a person who has no base in the constituency. She has never visited Amethi all these years and people do not even know her,” she said.
Meanwhile, reports suggest that Garima Singh returned to Amethi to claim her right over Bhupati Bhawan, the palace of the erstwhile royal family of Amethi.
