Ahead of the Assembly polls, ruling Samajwadi Party appears to be headed for a split, with Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and his party supremo and father Mulayam Singh engaging in a face-off by sacking each other’s loyalists Shivpal Yadav and Ramgopal Yadav. The crisis in the first family of Uttar Pradesh unfolded when Akhilesh held a meeting of party legislators, a day ahead of a mega meeting of party MPs, MLAs, MLCs and ministers called by Mulayam where some more tough decisions were likely to be taken. Those who attended the meeting claimed that 183 of 229 SP MLAs were present and there were demands for cracking the whip against supporters of Amar Singh, whose re-induction in the party two months ago had triggered a fight in the family. As the confrontation between the Akhilesh camp and the Mulayam camp appeared to be reaching a point of no return, reports were already doing the rounds that the Chief Minister could launch a new party named ‘National Samajwadi Party’ or ‘Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party’ with motorcycle as its symbol. Interestingly, according to some media reports, Ramgopal had met officials of the Election Commission in New Delhi a few days back, which was seen as an exercise aimed at exploring a new symbol and party name if Akhilesh dumps Samajwadi Party. In fact, some of the recent remarks by Congress showed a sympathy for Akhilesh. For instance, Rahul Gandhi described the Chief Minsiter as a “good person”, setting off speculation about a possible understanding between SP and Congress to keep BJP out. Congress General Secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Ghulam Nabi Azad’s description of Akhilesh as a “man with clean and transparent image” was also seen as an attempt in the same direction. Any split in the family is likely to change the political alignment and in this present turmoil the beneficiary is going to be Bharatiya Janata Party which has been eying a hold in Uttar Pradesh for a long time.
