Shivpal Yadav floats secular morcha, to contest 2019 LS elections
LUCKNOW: The simmering differences in the first family of Samajwadi Party came out in open yet again when party's senior leader and its former state chief Shivpal Yadav floated Samajwadi Secular Morcha on Wednesday. However, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav raised the finger of suspicion at ruling BJP for the development.
The announcement of the Morcha came from Shivpal immediately after he met SP patriarch early Wednesday morning. While interacting with media persons after making the announcement, Shivpal vowed to bring all those leaders who were feeling left out and neglected in the Samajwadi Party. However, he made it clear that he was still a member of Samajwadi Party and had not left the parent organisation.He claimed that the morcha would contest 2019 elections after bringing disgruntled and neglected members of SP together. He also said that he would try to bring all the like-minded smaller parties on a common platform.
However, the SP leader said that his secular morcha would emerge as a formidable political force in the state in the days to come, and that he would hit the campaign trail for 2019 LS polls on August 31 from Muzaffarnagar. "I have decided my future course, now it's up to the SP chief to decide what action he has to take," he averred.
Shivpal claimed that he had the blessings of his elder brother Mulayam who would also join him in the morcha."I floated this morcha as I was really hurt by the insult and disrespect meted out to Netaji (Mulayam Singh). We both were feeling neglected. We were not given any responsibility. Even we were not invited to party events and important meetings," said a pensive Shivpal.
NDA constituent SBSP chief Om Prakash Rajbhar had met Shivpal a couple of days ago while Rajya Sabha member Amar Singh claimed in Lucknow that he was taking Shivpal to meet a senior BJP leader but he backed out at the last moment. Talking to reporters in Etawah on Raksha Bandhan, Shivpal had said that he was without any responsibility in the party for the past one and a half years, echoing Mulayam's statement made a couple of days earlier that people didn't respect him any longer.
A seasoned politician, Shivpal has put the ball in nephew Akhilesh's court by claiming that he has not left the party and only tried to give voice to disgruntled elements in the organisation. However as per the political pundits, if he had left Samajwadi Party, he would have stood disqualified as MLA from Jaswantnagar. "He would be having a more appropriate time in mind to take his next step of leaving the party," said a senior SP leader seeking anonymity.
Meanwhile, reacting to his uncle's move, Akhilesh tried to attribute it to ruling BJP. "When seen in context with what was said yesterday (reference to Amar Singh's diatribe), the suspicion goes to the BJP," said the SP chief while talking to media persons. He added as the 2019 elections were inching closer, he was getting ready to face more such plots. "However, cycle will keep on moving irrespective of such hiccups," said an undeterred SP chief. When asked if he would try to pacify uncle Shivpal and bring him back, Akhilesh shot back by saying that his sole aim was to increase his party's tally in Lok Sabha by decreasing that of BJP. "Let me concentrate on my target and don't divert my mind by posing such queries," he quipped.