It is now apparent that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has been sidelined by his father and Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav when it comes to making key party decisions.
However, the UP CM is not taking this lying down, and in an act of open defiance, has issued a list of 235 candidates of his own with 171 sitting MLAs and 64 new candidates.
Earlier, feeding the speculation, close aide of Akhilesh, Ram Gopal Yadav, also hinted that a new list was a possibility by saying that making changes to the candidates list is normal. He also said there are people within the party who are working against the CM. He added:
There are powers, some even within the Samajwadi Party, which do not want Akhilesh to become the Chief Minister again.
However, party patriarch Mulayam who earlier met his younger brother Shivpal at his residence to discuss the future course of action will not be to amused by Akhilesh undermining his authority.
Feud in SP Worsens
The feud in Uttar Pradesh's first family worsened after Mulayam snubbed Akhilesh.
The first jolt from the SP chief came after he did not name Akhilesh as the chief ministerial nominee ahead of the 2017 Assembly polls.
Second, he left out pro-Akhilesh ministers from his list of 325 candidates, which he announced on Wednesday in the CM’s absence. What soured the relation further was when Mulayam declared 149 names from his brother Shivpal's list for the seats the party lost in the 2011 state polls.
The third snub came as Mulayam ruled out any alliance-forging possibilities with the Congress, which Akhilesh was open to for electoral gains.
On Thursday, Akhilesh called a meeting to hear the grievances of those ministers and MLAs who did not receive party tickets. This included Arvind Singh 'Gop', Pawan Pandey and Ram Govind Chaudhary. The details of the meeting are still unknown.
According to reports, Akhilesh said he would take up the matter of these "hard working" ministers with the SP chief.
In a tit-for-tat move, he even sacked advisor to UP Housing Development Council Surabhi Shukla and her husband Sandeep. Both are considered to be close to Akhilesh's uncle Shivpal Yadav
(With agency inputs.)
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