LUCKNOW: Following its strategy of stitching alliances with smaller parties, Samajwadi Party chief and former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav has confirmed that he will be having a tie-up with his uncle Shivpal Yadav in the upcoming UP Assembly polls and that he will give full respect to the estranged SP leader for whom it will not be less than a 'ghar wapsi'.
The Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party Lohia (PSPL) chief Shivpal Yadav has been expressing his willingness for the last few months to align with his nephew saying he would prefer an alliance with the SP over any other party for the 2022 elections. Shivpal Yadav has been waiting for a nod from his nephew Akhilesh on the alliance. Now on the occasion of Diwali, Akhilesh has finally given positive signs regarding an alliance with his uncle.
In a brief interaction with media persons in his ancestral village Saifai in Etawah district on Wednesday, Akhilesh said: “It has been the endeavour of the Samajwadi Party to bring regional and small parties together for the 2022 UP polls. Many such outfits have come along with the SP, recently OP Rajbhar had organised a historic programme in Mau and announced his association with us. The SP will try to ally with more regional and small outfits, it is obvious that Chacha (Shivpal) also has a political party, we will try to ally with him also and he will get maximum respect from the Samajwadi people. I want to assure you of that.”
There has been intense infighting in the Yadav clan since 2016 which percolated to the 2017 assembly elections and had a telling impact on the performance of the Samajwadi Party.
Shivpal had parted ways with the Samajwadi Party and floated his own outfit in September 2018. The PSPL had caused a major dent to the prospects of the SP in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls though it could not win a seat.
It has been speculated that this dissent will come to an end on Mulayam Singh Yadav’s birthday on November 22. It is being said that Shivpal was looking at Netaji’s birthday as the last hope. However, now Akhilesh has put an end to all the speculation by confirming that he will be allying with Shivpal Yadav’s party.
Akhilesh started his Vijay Rath Yatra from Kanpur recently while Shivpal had started his separate Rath Yatra from Mathura Vrindavan. However, now sources suggest that Shivpal Yadav may merge his PSPL with the Samajwadi Party and do a 'ghar wapsi' on the occasion of Mulayam’s birthday.
Experts feel that the coming together of Shivpal and Akhilesh would improve the party's performance significantly.
According to political scientist Prof AK Mishra, Shivpal Yadav’s party had not been performing substantially since its inception in 2018. However, if both Shivpal and Akhilesh come together, then the strength of the Samajwadi Party will rise. This is what Mulayam realises but Akhilesh fails to see. MSY has realised that Akhilesh on his own might not perform that well in comparison to when Akhilesh and Shivpal come together.