LUCKNOW: The merger of Shivpal Yadav-led Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party-Lohia and Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party prompt the BJP to return to the drawing board to devise a fresh strategy for not only the big battle of 2024 but also the upcoming civic polls. The SP has decided to fight the urban local body polls on its symbol for the first time.
The Akhilesh-Shivpal reunion had been visible since the demise of SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav. It has now been cemented by Dimple Yadav’s victory. Hours after Akhilesh presented his party flag to Shivpal in Saifai on Thursday, the latter and his son Aditya changed their Twitter accounts to identify themselves as SP leaders.
“In the coming days, chachaji will be given a bigger role in Samajwadi Party and his party workers will be given due respect,” Akhilesh said. Dimple’s victory in Mainpuri with a margin of over 2.88 lakh votes over BJP’s Raghuraj Singh Shakya consolidated the reconciliation between Akhilesh and Shivpal.
“Being seen as homecoming, the merger of his party with SP will strengthen the hands of not only Akhilesh but also reduce the challenges for Shivpal who had been side lined,” Reoti Raman Singh, an SP veteran, said.
The family feud had hurt the prospects of the uncle and nephew in three polls since 2017, and the BJP had cashed in on it. “Akhilesh would get the benefit of this reunion in potato belt comprising Kannauj, Firozabad, Auraiyya, Etawah, Mainpuri and Farrukhbad as Shivpal has a respectable following here,” JP Shukla, a political commentator, said.