Taking a swipe at Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, his uncle and Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) president Shivpal Singh Yadav on Tuesday saying his “political immaturity” led to the SP’s party’s defeat in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. This was Shivpal’s first reaction in the public after the SP, in a letter, told him that he was free to go wherever he thought he would get more respect, an apparent jibe at his growing proximity with the BJP.
The SP had also shot a similar letter to another ally Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) president Om Prakash Rajbhar. “I came to know about the letter from the Samajwadi Party only through the media. It is indicative of his political immaturity and nothing else. It would have been better had I been expelled from the party and the legislature party,” Shivpal told reporters here.
“You have seen where the party was and where it has reached now. Had that maturity been there, the party would have formed its government in 2022 and Akhilesh would have been the chief minister. “It would have been better had I been given ‘mukti’ (relief) from the party. When such letters are being written to me, I am not invited to the legislature party meetings or my suggestions are not accepted, there would have been no heartburn if given mukti,” he added.
Shivpal had contested the recent state polls on an SP ticket and won from his traditional Jaswant Nagar seat in Etawah district. In a letter on the party’s Twitter handle on Saturday, the SP had said, “Honourable Shivpal Singh Yadav, if you feel you will get more respect somewhere, you are free to go there.” The development came after Shivpal and Rajbhar supported the National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu, who defeated Yashwant Sinha, the Opposition nominee also supported by the SP.
The “Chacha-Bhatija” had patched up ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls at the behest of party patron Mulayam Singh Yadav. However, the bonhomie between the two did not last long and they drifted apart after suffering a defeat at the hands of the BJP.
In 2018, Shivpal had formed his party after he being sidelined by Akhilesh. When asked about Rajbhar, Shivpal said, “I have not yet had any talk in this regard though I have had a courtesy meeting with him.” Shivpal, however, appeared soft on senior SP leader Azam Khan, saying, “I will stand by him whenever required.” The relationship between Khan, the Muslim face of the SP since the days of Mulayam Singh Yadav, and Akhilesh too has hit a rough patch since the assembly elections.
On issues concerning the minorities, Shivpal said, “We have always raised their issues and will continue to raise them whenever required.”
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