Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav's uncle and one of the founders of the party, Shivpal Singh Yadav on Saturday said that Akhilesh lacked "political maturity" needed to run a political party even as he pledged his support to the NDA Presidential nominee Draupadi Murmu saying that the opposition sponsored candidate Yashwant Sinha did not solicit his support.
"Akhilesh lacks the political maturity required to run a big party like the SP......the SP is going downhill owing to the immaturity of the SP president.....the allies are also parting ways with him," Shivpal said here.
He said that he was not invited at the meeting of the SP legislature party convened to discuss the presidential polls even though he was an MLA of the party. "My own party did not invite me......UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath sought my support for Murmu and I pledged my support for her," he added.
"No party can be run from home...the leader has to go out in the field and stand with the party workers......the workers will never hit the streets if their leader is not there to lead them," Shivpal said.
Shivpal's remarks came a day after SP ally Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) president Om Prakash Rajbhar stinging attack on Akhilesh over defeat of the SP nominees in the recently held Lok Sabha by-polls at Azamgarh and Rampur seats.
Incidentally Rajbhar and five MLAs of his party were also present along with Shivpal at the dinner thrown by Adityanath in support of Murmu here on Friday. Rajbhar also said that his party would support the NDA presidential nominee.
Earlier the Mahan Dal, another ally of the SP, parted ways with Akhilesh saying that the latter had not accorded it the respect it deserved.