Do or die battle for Mulayam before SP's national convention next month

Lucknow, Sep 7: Samajwadi Party patron Mulayam Singh Yadav appears to be fighting a do or die battle to regain his position in the party in wake of the ensuing national convention of the party on October 4. Mr Yadav, who is looking for an end to the intra-family power struggle that ensures an honourable rehabilitation of his younger brother Shivpal Singh Yadav, has several options before him, including forming a new political outfit. As the national convention is nearing, the SP patriarch was searching ways to warn his son and present SP President Akhilesh Yadav of dire consequences if nothing was solved soon. Reports also say that Mulayam was also considering to float a new political outfit if Akhilesh does not come on the board to resolve the issue. There is also a report that Mulayam could even resign from the Lok Sabha seat to give a message to his son. However, the realisation is sinking among the SP cadres that if the family feud continues, the party is doomed before the next Lok Sabha elections in 2019. Sources in the party here today said last month, Mulayam had convened a meeting of party MPs in Delhi but it was marked by the absence of Ram Gopal Yadav, Dimple Yadav, Akshay Yadav, Naresh Agarwal and Kironmoy Nanda. While there was no official word from the party about the deliberations, Mulayam is reported to have expressed his anguish at the prevailing state of affairs within the party and its prospects. Sources in the SP said that Mulayam told party leaders that the SP was still a formidable political force in UP and if the party was able to send a message that it was united and could effectively expose the lies of Bharatiya Janata Party, the party would do fairly well in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Soon after the Delhi meeting, Mulayam addressed a huge public meeting at daughter-in-law Dimple Yadav’s Lok Sabha constituency, Kannauj, on last Saturday. In an apparent attempt to mount pressure on son Akhilesh Yadav, the SP patron said that it was difficult for him to be associated with a party where no one respected him. He also warned that he was willing to take tough steps, including floating a new political outfit. Mulayam Singh Yadav is keen to settle the dispute before the SP’s national convention scheduled in October. He is aware that after the formal election of Akhilesh as national president of SP, it would be difficult bring him to the negotiating table for ending the dispute. The sources opined that the biggest stumbling block in the settlement was Ram Gopal Yadav. “SP general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav is the man Friday of Akhilesh Yadav and the latter will do nothing against the wishes of his uncle, who is also the party leader in Rajya Sabha,” said a SP leader. The SP leader explained, “Akhilesh is deeply indebted to Ram Gopal as he was the key person who coaxed Mulayam Singh Yadav to choose Akhilesh as the Chief Minister of UP after the Assembly polls in March 2012. Besides, he also helped Akhilesh in taking over the reins of the party as national president on January 1 this year.” “The next SP national convention is due in October where Akhilesh Yadav will be formally elected as national president of the party and this would further strengthen his grip on the outfit. By implication, it would diminish the chances of a settlement of the intra-family feud,” he said. “Whatever be the terms and conditions of settlement, Akhilesh will never part with the post of SP chief and he will never accept the rehabilitation of Shivpal Yadav in the party,” he further stated. The sources, however, said that a deal was possible if efforts were made to soften Ram Gopal Yadav and persuade him to steer the process of ending the dispute, thus brightening the future prospect of the party. UNI