With the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections still months away, the Samajwadi Party has found itself grappling with an internal power struggle that has forced party president Akhilesh Yadav to intervene personally. In a significant organisational move, Akhilesh reportedly asked senior MLA Kamal Akhtar to resign as the party's chief whip in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly following a complaint by Moradabad MP Ruchi Veera, exposing growing factionalism in one of the SP's key political bastions.
Kamal Akhtar, a veteran Muslim leader and MLA from Kanth, immediately stepped down from the chief whip's post, saying he was acting on the instructions of the party president.
However, he continues to serve as an MLA, indicating that the action was aimed at defusing the immediate crisis rather than sidelining him from the party.
The controversy stems from an increasingly bitter tussle for political influence in Moradabad.
According to party insiders, Ruchi Veera recently met Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow and complained that Akhtar was interfering in organisational affairs and undermining her authority in the district. In response, Akhilesh called both leaders for a meeting in an attempt to resolve the dispute.
Instead of ending the differences, the meeting reportedly turned confrontational. Akhtar is learnt to have accused Veera of becoming active in the party only during elections and alleged that senior SP workers who had contributed to her Lok Sabha victory were being ignored after she became an MP. He also reportedly claimed that attempts were being made to build a separate political camp in Moradabad and position Veera's daughter, Swati Veera, for the Moradabad City Assembly seat in 2027.
Veera, on the other hand, is said to have maintained that Akhtar's conduct was harming party discipline and urged the leadership to take action against him.
The differences eventually prompted Akhilesh to ask Akhtar to relinquish the chief whip's post, a move seen as an effort to restore organisational discipline before the party enters full election mode.
The episode has once again highlighted the balancing act facing Akhilesh Yadav. Since the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the SP has expanded its political footprint by accommodating leaders from different backgrounds and regions. While this strategy has helped broaden the party's social coalition, it has also intensified competition among local leaders for organisational control and future Assembly tickets.
Political observers believe the Moradabad dispute is more than just a clash between two leaders. It reflects the challenges of managing competing ambitions within a growing political organisation. As the Samajwadi Party prepares its roadmap for the 2027 Assembly elections, Akhilesh Yadav's ability to resolve such internal conflicts without alienating influential leaders may prove just as crucial as the party's electoral strategy against the ruling BJP.
