LUCKNOW:
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav today described as a "dispute in the government and not a family feud," his differences with uncle Shivpal Yadav, which seem to have placed him in direct confrontation with his father and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.
This was no peace move. The 44-year-old chief minister was defiant as he said, "I take some decisions, Neta ji takes others. I don't consult anyone for my decisions."
Outsiders, he said, were meddling in party affairs and that was worrisome. The chief minister was referring to Deepak Singhal, an official close to Shivpal Yadav, who the chief minister sacked as the state's top bureaucrat yesterday.
There began a chain of events that saw Mulayam Singh remove Akhilesh Yadav as the Samajwadi Party's UP chief and install Shivpal Yadav instead. Hours later, Akhilesh stripped Shivpal of all his powerful ministries in the state and handed him only the social welfare portfolio.
All eyes are now on Mulayam Singh, who is in Delhi. Shivpal Yadav this morning confirmed he will meet his brother today, flaunting like a badge of honour, their closeness. "I have spoken to Neta ji, I will abide by what he says," said the minister, 61.
He called Akhilesh's action against him "the chief minster's prerogative," but also said, "No one has the temerity to go against what Neta ji says," he added, using the name given to Mulayam Singh Yadav by everyone in his family and party.
His appointment as party chief in UP puts him in the driver's seat for preparations for the UP elections early next year when the Samajwadi Party will seek to retain power in the state. Mulayam Singh values Shivpal as the party's key strategist for alliances for elections.
"It is very sad what is happening right now," Ballu Yadav, a prominent student leader in the Samajwadi Party said about the bitter feud that first came out in the open when Akhilesh opposed Shivpal's plan to merge gangster Mukhtar Ansari's party with the Samajwadi Party.
Akhilesh Yadav, who has been lacerated by the opposition for poor law and order in the state, is desperately attempting an image makeover before the elections. He had sacked two ministers on Monday over alleged corruption despite the fact that they were close to his father.
The BJP has dismissed it as "family drama." Rivals see in it an elaborate plan to project Akhilesh Yadav as the young rebel willing to take on even his father and uncle to uphold clean politics.
Source:ndtv.com
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