Lucknow:Acrimony, bitter exchanges and personal attacks today marked a meeting of Samajwadi Party leaders, bringing to the fore the high-voltage power struggle in the first family with Akhilesh Yadav and his father Mulayam Singh Yadav trading barbs while the chief minister was accused of planning to float a party, a charge he denied.

Cut up with his son, Mulayam Singh Yadav put up a strong defence of his brother Shivpal Yadav, who was sacked by Akhilesh yesterday from his cabinet, and General Secretary Amar Singh but ruled out replacing the chief minister, who offered to quit.

The political drama was also punctuated by clashes between rival factions outside and inside the venue and after the abrupt end to the meeting of the legislators, MPs and ministers.

Seeking to put at rest speculation, Akhilesh ruled out forming any new party and offered to step down if Mulayam Singh Yadav wanted.

With his father and uncle watching, he broke down while addressing the meeting.

“Let ‘netaji’ (Mulayam) install a chief minister who he feels is honest,” he said.

“Why should I form a new party?” he posed in an emotionally choked voice.

At the meeting Akhilesh said all these years he had toiled hard for the welfare of the people.

“Merey pita, merey guru hain (my father is my guru)” he said.

The Chief Minister said many people were trying to create divisions within his family using various machinations and that he had taught himself how to oppose any wrong doing.

Tension was palpable much before the meeting began with youth supporters of Akhilesh mounting pressure on the leadership in support of the chief minister..

Amid talks that Akhilesh could give a miss to the silver jubilee celebrations of the party, the chief minister said, “Rath be chaley, sthapana diwas be maney (my rath yatra will go on and establishment day of the party will be celebrated).”

Akhilesh will embark on his ‘rath yatra’ on November 3, two days ahead of the silver jubilee event, which gave rise to speculation that he would skip the big show to express his displeasure over the recent developments in the party.

The chief minister said that he had connected with the masses with the help of Samajwadi Pension Yojana.

“People kept criticising me, but I went ahead keeping my promises to them,” he said.

An angry Akhilesh targeted Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh for the current developments saying that he (Amar) had hinted that some “major changes” would take place in October.

At the same time, the chief minister said that if he had said something beyond his limit, he should be pardoned.

When his turn came, Mulayam Singh said the party was facing a difficult situation and party members should not fight with each other. But his words had little effect as chaos broke out at the venue and heated words were exchanged on the dais leading to an abrupt end of the meeting.

Both the father and son shouted at each other at the meeting.

“I can’t tolerate anything against Amar and Shivpal. Amar saved me from going to jail,” Mulayam said admonishing Akhilesh for attacking Amar Singh.

“Amar has helped me a lot. If Amar was not there I would have been in jail, he is like my brother,” Mulayam said, describing the Rajya Sabha member as his brother.

Mulayam said mere donning of red cap (colour of SP’s cap) does not make one Samajwadi.

“Some ministers are just sycophants,” he added.

“I cannot forget the work done by Shivpal Yadav,” he said while describing Shivpal as a mass leader.

“We are facing difficult situation, we should remove our weakness and not fight with each other,” Mulayam said.

In the first open attack on his nephew, Shivpal Yadav claimed the chief minister had told him that he would float a new party to contest the upcoming Assembly polls.

He urged his brother to “take over reins of Uttar Pradesh”.

Speaking after Akhilesh’s denial, Shivpal said, “Recently, I went to meet the CM. He said he would float a party and ally with some parties.”

Daggers drawn with the chief minister over a host of issues, Shivpal said he was ready to vouch for it. “I can swear by Gangajal,” he said.

Referring to his long association with the party and his contributions towards strengthening it, Shivpal told party chief, “Netaji, there is a need for you to take over reins of Uttar Pradesh.”

Standing stoutly with Amar Singh, who is being accused of pitting one against the other in the family, he said, “Amar Singh ke charanon ki dhool bhi nahi ho aap log (Worth of all of you is not even one quarter of Amar Singh)”.

He said that he had never severed his relations with Amar Singh and shared personal ties with him all through.

Referring to the controversy over the merger of mafia don-turned-MLA Muktar Ansari’s QED with the Samajwadi Party, Shivpal said he (Ansari) was never taken into the party and only rumours were spread in this regard.

Shivpal also made a mention of his efforts to garner support of opposition party MLAs to ensure smooth sailing of SP nominees in the recent Rajya Sabha polls.

“Do I have no contribution in government formation…

Have my departments not done good work? Even opposition party leaders laud the works… The CM should tell where I have not done enough…despite not being invited, I used to go to CM’s house,” he said.

At the meeting, Shivpal and Akhilesh traded charges at each other on the dais.

Amid the commotion, Shivpal snatched the mike from the chief minister.

Snubbing Akhilesh’s supporters, Shivpal said the party has been strengthened through the hard work and sweat of Mulayam Singh and not “because of your sloganeering”.

When Shivpal said he had been working for the organisation all these four years visiting each district three to four times, someone in the audience pointed out that he had travelled using government helicopter.

Shivpal retorted: “Helicopter kya tumhare baap ka hai, main mantri tha government mein (Did your father own the helicopter? I was a minister in the government).”

I am not in Samajwadi Party now: Ramgopal Yadav

Mumbai: A day after he was expelled from Samajwadi Party for allegedly “colluding” with BJP, Ramgopal Yadav, a loyalist of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and cousin of party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, today said he is not with the party now.

“I am not in Samajwadi Party now,” he told mediapersons tersely at the airport here before flying out of the city. He was in Mumbai yesterday.

Ramgopal, who was the national general secretary of Samajwadi Party, was yesterday expelled from the party for six years by Mulayam, accusing him of hobnobbing with BJP.

The party’s Uttar Pradesh unit chief and Mulayam’s brother Shivpal Yadav, who was dropped as a minister by Akhilesh yesterday, had accused Ramgopal of hobnobbing with BJP to save himself and his son from a CBI probe in connection with alleged involvement in the Yadav Singh Noida scam probe.

Shivpal had said Ramgopal was tarnishing the image of SP by dabbling in corruption, colluding with BJP and weakening Mulayam’s leadership.

In a statement faxed from Mumbai yesterday, Ramgopal had said he would always remain with nephew Akhilesh in the “holy war” though Mulayam will continue to remain his “guru” in politics.

Mulayam Singh helpless in the family feud: Sudhanshu Trivedi

Kanpur:Taking potshots at Mulayam Singh Yadav over the unabetting infighting in the Samajwadi party, BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi today said the SP chief was “helpless” and his status has been reduced to being the leader of just one family.

“When he became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh for the first time, he used to be called ‘dharti putra’ and ‘janata ke neta'(mass leader), but now he has been reduced to being the leader of just one family,” said Trivedi while speaking to mediapersons here.

“He is so helpless that he cannot control even his family how will he control and entire state?,” he wondered.

Trivedi said the infighting was the sign that the SP has already admitted defeat in the forthcoming Assembly polls.

He said that every other party contesting the UP Assembly polls had their own agenda and only the BJP was concerned about UP’s development.

“SP has to save its family, Congress has to save its security money (for the election) and BSP has to save its land (in the Assembly polls). All the parties are terrified by BJP and that is why leaders from other parties are joining BJP on their own,” he said.

“BJP is the only party which can encourage development works in UP. BJP was already strong in UP and after this family feud, people have grown more confident about the BJP,” he added.

The crisis in the SP further deepened after UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and his father Mulayam Singh Yadav yesterday sacked each other’s loyalists Ramgopal Yadav and Shivpal Yadav.

The father-son duo and Shivpal Yadav attended a public meeting where charges flew thick and fast as the chief minister was accused of planning to float a party, a charge he denied.

On his part, the UP CM offered to step down if his father Mulayam Singh wanted him to.

Top leaders clash as SP feud plays out on stage

Lucknow: The feud in UP’s ruling Samajwadi Party today came out into the open with a high-voltage drama unfolding in full public view during which party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav sided with his younger brother Shivpal and friend Amar Singh, and reprimanded son Akhilesh Yadav but ruled out his removal as Chief Minister.

Amid speculation about a possible split ahead of the assembly polls, the bitter power struggle in SP’s first family played out on stage at a meeting called by its supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav of party legislators, MPs and other leaders where Akhilesh, blowing hot and cold, first offered to step down in a choked voice but later accused Amar Singh and those close to him of hatching a “conspiracy” against him and his father.

There were sharp exchanges between Akhilesh and Mulayam, who virtually dismissed him as an insignificant entity in UP politics who could not win an election without his support.

“What is your capability? Can you win elections?” he said, snapping at Akhilesh.

The bile-filled exchanges came a day after the continuing battle of attrition between Akhilesh and his uncle Shivpal Yadav, state SP chief, saw the Chief Minister sacking Shivpal and three other ministers close to him, and Mulayam striking back with vengeance expelling from the party for six years his cousin Ram Gopal Yadav. Ram Gopal, a Rajya Sabha member.

has been backing Akhilesh in his fight against Shivpal.

Addressing the gathering Akhilesh ruled out forming a new party, a claim which Shivpal disputed, saying he was prepared to “swear” by his son and “Ganga Jal” that the Chief Minister had told him he would indeed float a new party and contest the assembly polls in alliance with some political party.

The proceedings reached a flashpoint when Akhilesh accused Rajya Sabha member Amar Singh, who recently returned to SP, of having planted a story in a leading English daily in which he was called ‘Aurangzeb’ and Mulayam ‘Shahjahan’.

Mughal emperor Shahjahan was imprisoned by his son Aurangzeb in his last years. Shivpal, who was standing close by, was seen snatching away the microphone from Akhilesh and calling him a “liar”. “The Chief Minister is lying…the Chief Minister is lying,” he told the gathering.

Shivpal also demanded that Mulayam take over the helm of the government.

In his speech, Akhilesh sought to scotch speculation that he was planning to form a new party and offered to step down.

“Let ‘netaji’ (Mulayam) install a chief minister who he feels is honest. Why should I form a new party?” he posed in an emotionally choked voice, calling the SP supremo his “pita (father) and guru (teacher).

The Chief Minister said many people were trying to create divisions within his family using various machinations and that he had taught himself how to oppose any wrong doing.

At one point, Akhilesh appeared to extend an olive branch when he said,”Rath bhi chaley, sthapana diwas bhi maney (my rath yatra will go on and establishment day of the party will be celebrated).” There has been speculation that he would give the SP’s silver jubilee celebration on November 5 by proceeding on his ‘rath yatra’ two days earlier.

When his turn came, Mulayam Singh said the party was facing a difficult situation and its members should not fight each other. But his words had little effect as chaos broke out at the venue and heated words were exchanged on the dais leading to an abrupt end of the meeting. Both the father and son were seen shouting at each other.

“I can’t tolerate anything against Amar and Shivpal. Amar saved me from going to jail,” Mulayam said admonishing Akhilesh for attacking Amar Singh.

“Amar has helped me a lot. If Amar was not there I would have been in jail, he is like my brother,” Mulayam said.

“I cannot forget the work done by Shivpal Yadav,” he said while describing his brother as a mass leader.

“We are facing difficult situation, we should remove our weakness and not fight with each other,” Mulayam said.

In the first open attack on his nephew, Shivpal Yadav claimed the Chief Minister had told him that he would float a new party to contest the upcoming Assembly polls and urged Mulayam to “take over reins of Uttar Pradesh”.

Speaking after Akhilesh’s denial, Shivpal said, “Recently, I went to meet the CM. He said he would float a party and ally with some parties. I can swear by my son, I can swear by Ganga Jal.”

Referring to his long association with the party and his contributions towards strengthening it, Shivpal told Mulayam, “Netaji, there is a need for you to take over reins of Uttar Pradesh.”

Making a strong defence of Amar Singh, who is being accused of pitting one against the other in the Yadav family, he said, “Amar Singh ke charanon ki dhool bhi nahi ho aap log (you are not worth even the dirt on Amar Singh’s feet)”.

The acrimony among the two top SP leaders rubbed off on their supporters too with those backing Akhilesh Yadav and Shivpal clashing outside and inside the venue before and after the meeting ended abruptly amid heightened tension on stage.

There were reports that Akhilesh was meeting MLAs supporting him for obtaining their signatures on a memorandum seeking Shivpal’s ouster as state Samajwadi Party president which would be submitted to Mulayam for action. Some reports said Shivpal met Akhilesh after the meeting in an attempt to sort out the differences. However, there was no official word from either camps about the developments.

Maharashtra SP chief Abu Azmi blames Amar Singh for divide in party

Mumbai:Samajwadi Party’s Maharashtra unit chief Abu Azmi today lashed out at the senior leader Amar Singh, “blaming” him for the rift between the party president Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.

“We want Samajwadi Party led by Netaji (Mulayam Singh) and Akhilesh, minus Amar Singh. It is the same Amar Singh who convinced Netaji to remove his own son Akhilesh from the post of state chief of SP in UP,” Azmi told PTI here.

Asked about reasons for his strong opposition to Amar Singh, who was backed by Mulayam at a stormy meeting of the party leaders in Lucknow today, Azmi said, “Many leaders have left the party only because of Amar Singh. I have communicated to my senior leaders in UP that Amar Singh can be a personal friend, but he should be kept away from the party.

“It is the same Amar Singh, who after expulsion from SP, had campaigned against the party and its candidates. If he was so loyal, then why did he contest election against SP leadership in the past? Hence, he should be kept away from the party,” said Azmi.

At a meeting in Lucknow, Mulayam Singh put up a strong defence of his brother Shivpal Yadav and General Secretary Amar Singh but ruled out replacing Akhilesh who offered to quit as CM.

Shivpal meets Akhilesh; the two jointly meet Mulayam later

Lucknow: The feud in UP’s ruling Samajwadi Party today came out into the open with a high-voltage drama unfolding in full public view during which party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav sided with his younger brother Shivpal and friend Amar Singh, and reprimanded son Akhilesh Yadav but ruled out his removal as Chief Minister.

Amid speculation about a possible split ahead of the assembly polls, the bitter power struggle in SP’s first family played out on stage at a meeting called by its supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav of party legislators, MPs and other leaders where Akhilesh, blowing hot and cold, first offered to step down in a choked voice but later accused Amar Singh and those close to him of hatching a “conspiracy” against him and his father.

There were sharp exchanges between Akhilesh and Mulayam, who virtually dismissed him as an insignificant entity in UP politics who could not win an election without his support.

“What is your capability? Can you win elections?” he said, snapping at Akhilesh.

There were ugly scenes and name-calling, with Shivpal Yadav, the state SP chief, snatching microphone from Akhilesh and calling him a liar, only to make a dramatic appearance at the Chief Minister’s residence hours later. The nephew-uncle duo drove in the same car to meet party patriarch Mulayam, who was said to be having a severe toothache, surprising many.

Party observers said the meeting could have been at the behest of Mulayam, who had earlier in the day wished that Akhilesh and Shivpal transcended all differences and hugged each other.

The bile-filled exchanges between top SP leaders came a day after the continuing battle of attrition between Akhilesh and his uncle Shivpal Yadav saw the Chief Minister sacking Shivpal and three other ministers close to him, and Mulayam striking back with vengeance expelling from the party for six years his cousin Ram Gopal Yadav. Ram Gopal, a Rajya Sabha member, has been backing Akhilesh in his fight against Shivpal.

Addressing the gathering Akhilesh ruled out forming a new party, a claim which Shivpal disputed, saying he was prepared to “swear” by his son and “Ganga Jal” that the Chief Minister had told him he would indeed float a new party and contest the assembly polls in alliance with some political party.

The proceedings reached a flashpoint when Akhilesh accused Rajya Sabha member Amar Singh, who recently returned to SP, of having planted a story in a leading English daily in which he was called ‘Aurangzeb’ and Mulayam ‘Shahjahan’.

Mughal emperor Shahjahan was imprisoned by his son Aurangzeb in his last years. Shivpal, who was standing close by, was seen snatching away the microphone from Akhilesh and calling him a “liar”. “The Chief Minister is lying…the Chief Minister is lying,” he told the gathering.

Shivpal also demanded that Mulayam take over the helm of the government.

In his speech, Akhilesh sought to scotch speculation that he was planning to form a new party and offered to step down.

“Let ‘netaji’ (Mulayam) install a chief minister who he feels is honest. Why should I form a new party?” he posed in an emotionally choked voice, calling the SP supremo his “pita (father) and guru (teacher).

The Chief Minister said many people were trying to create divisions within his family using various machinations and that he had taught himself how to oppose any wrong doing.

At one point, Akhilesh appeared to extend an olive branch when he said,”Rath bhi chaley, sthapana diwas bhi maney (my rath yatra will go on and establishment day of the party will be celebrated).” There has been speculation that he would give the SP’s silver jubilee celebration on November 5 by proceeding on his ‘rath yatra’ two days earlier.

BSP keenly watching SP feud, eying Muslim voters

Lucknow: The acrimony in ruling Samajwadi Party ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections appears to have all the ingredients to change the electoral prospects of key players.

Beleaguered Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has a support base among the middle class and Yadav voters, but which party the Muslims back could determine the outcome of the elections due early next year.

The crisis in the SP is being keenly watched by BSP which expects to gain most in the present scenario.

BSP has been able to consolidate Muslim electors in its support in the past too, despite SP being the main claimant to

their votes.

Muslims account for around 12 per cent of the electorate and are a force to reckon with.

BSP chief Mayawati had started her poll campaign asking the Muslim community to vote for her as supporting SP could benefit BJP.

Analysts say her campaign coupled with the spree of attacks by ‘gau rakshak’ (cow vigilantes) on Muslims and Dalits have strongly polarised the electorate. With the ruling Samajwadi Party a divided house, the BSP would hope the Muslims would overwhelmingly vote for the party in order to prevent a split in minority votes which would benefit the BJP.

BSP is also wooing Brahmins with party leader S C Misra, himself a Brahmin, reminding the voters that during Mayawati’s stint in power key administrative posts were held by members of that caste.

Muslims have backed Mulayam for decades, but the infighting in SP ahead of its silver jubilee celebrations only means the party, whoever is at the helm, will have to manage this crucial vote bank shrewdly in the run up to the polls just few months away.

The development has become a matter of worry for BJP as well. It has reasons to get worried because if Muslims shift their alleigance to BSP, it might upset the saffron party’s apple cart.

Congress attacks SP: ‘Did Rahul say Akhilesh is a good CM?’

New Delhi: “Did Rahul Gandhi say that Akhilesh is a good chief minister?” Congress asked today as it came down hard on the Samajwadi Party rule in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh saying the party was “imploding from within”.

Amid the high-voltage power struggle in the family with Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and his father Mulayam Singh Yadav trading barbs, Congress spokesman R P N Singh claimed there has been “no development” in the four-and-a- half-year of the SP rule in the state.

Besides, he said the law and order is “worsening” day-by- day and the state government has “gone back” on every promise it made to the people.

He lamented that though the Samajwadi Party was given full mandate by people, it has “failed” to fulfill the poll promises leading to “worsening plight” of the farmers, farm labourers and poor.

Asked whether Congress supported Akhilesh or Mulayam, he dismissed it as a hypothetical question. He said no one has approached the state governor complaining that there was a constitutional crisis.

When told that the Congress Vice President had recently hailed Akhilesh as a “good guy” indicating that he was backing the Chief Minister, Singh countered saying: “Did Rahul Gandhi say that Akhilesh is a good chief minister?” PTI

Amar Singh maintains silence on Akhilesh’s accusations

Kolkata: As the feud in the Samajwadi Party degenerated into mudslinging, senior party leader Amar Singh today said sometimes silence was the best strategic answer to all questions and allegations brought against him.

Giving his “best wishes” to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, Singh, once a right hand man of SP supermo Mulayam Singh Yadav, told PTI “I won’t comment on the matter.

For me, at times silence is the best strategic answer to all questions and allegations raised against me”.

When asked about his reactions to Akhilesh pointing fingers at him, Singh said “I give my best wishes to Akhilesh Yadav. I have wished him on his birthday. He is the son of my supreme leader, my best wishes are with him.”

Later at another function, Singh thanked SP supremo and UP Samajwadi Party president Shivpal Yadav for standing beside him.

“I thank Mulayam Singh Yadav and Shivpal Yadav for standing beside me,” he said.

My goal is to ensure Akhilesh becomes CM again: Ram Gopal

Mumbai:A day after being expelled from Samajwadi Party, Ram Gopal Yadav today rejected suggestions that he plans to form a new party with Akhilesh Yadav but asserted he will work towards ensuring his nephew becomes the Uttar Pradesh chief minister again after next year’s polls.

“There is no question of forming another party. Why should I form another party? Those who have nothing should think of forming another party. Everything is with Akhilesh. People are with him,” he said.

Reiterating his loyalty to Akhilesh, he dared party leaders Shivpal Yadav and Amar Singh to list out their charges and allegations against him in a public meeting and walk away unscathed.

Praising Akhilesh, Ram Gopal said in no other party a personal war has been waged against a chief minister. It is disappointing that Akhilesh is under attack by people within the party, he said.

Asserting his goal right now is to ensure return of Akhilesh as chief minister in the next polls, he said he will leave no stone unturned to achieve his objective.

He was expelled from the party yesterday for allegedly colluding with BJP with the purpose of damaging the SP.

In a statement faxed from here yesterday, Ram Gopal had said he would always remain with nephew Akhilesh in the “holy war” though Mulayam will continue to remain his “guru” in politics.

PTI