Yadav vs Yadav vs Yadav, what’s UP?

Shahira Naim

Tribune News Service

Lucknow, October 23

In a tit-for-tat, Samajwadi Party general secretary and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav supporter Ramgopal Yadav was today expelled from the party for six years close on the heels of Akhilesh sacking his paternal uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav and three other ministers from his Cabinet.

Shivpal, the state party chief, accused Ramgopal of hatching a conspiracy to weaken the party and the government at BJP’s behest. He claimed the expelled leader’s son and Firozabad MP, Akshay Yadav, and his wife were involved in a corruption case being probed by the CBI. Therefore, “Ramgopal had thrice met a senior BJP leader to save his son’s skin”. 

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He also alleged that it was owing to pressure from Ramgopal that the party had to withdraw from Bihar’s grand alliance and that CM Akhilesh had unwittingly become a party to the conspiracy hatched by Ramgopal. “Ramgopal is trying to weaken the party and undermine the Akhilesh government, which the CM should understand, but does not,” Shivpal said, reiterating that the decision to expel Ramgopal was that of national president Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Sources said Mulayam was upset with Ramgopal for his provocative letter, warning him (Mulayam) that he would be solely responsible if the party won less than 100 seats in the coming Assembly elections. “The people who worshipped you for forming and nurturing SP would now blame you for its downfall... History is heartless, it spares none,” Ramgopal wrote. 

In another one-page letter addressed to “pyare saathiyon” today, he asked them to ensure that the government remained under Akhilesh’s leadership, claiming those who had sacrificed for the party were with Akhilesh  and those who had made crores and misused power were in the opposite camp.

Reacting to his expulsion, Ramgopal shot off yet another letter, accusing Mulayam of being in the grip of “demonic forces”. Describing the power struggle as ‘dharma yudh,” he claimed he would always stand by Akhilesh while reiterating his faith in ‘Netaji’, his “guru”. He denied his son was being probed by the CBI.  

Meanwhile, the decision to dismiss Shivpal and his loyalists from the Cabinet was endorsed by MLAs at a meeting called by Akhilesh, who stressed that his father continued to be his leader. The CM, blaming Amar Singh for the crisis in the party, said anyone close to Amar Singh (read Shivpal) had no place in his government.