Shivpal isolated in party

Isolated in the party which he had founded and nurtured with his elder brother, former state unit president of the Samajwadi Party (SP), Shivpal Singh Yadav on Thursday termed the Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh a “dharm yuddh” (war for a just cause) with his own people.

A sulking Shivpal also said that the SP was going to win the elections but everything was “spoiled by some power-hungry people.”

“The forthcoming polls are not a battle for power...we are fighting our own people,” he said, apparently referring to SP general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav. Taking veiled shots against Ram Gopal and his nephew and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, Shivpal said that some people within the family were behind the downfall of the party.

Shivpal’s remarks are significant as they come close on the heels of the formation of a separate outfit with some of his supporters.

Confined
Shivpal has confined himself to his Assembly constituency of Jaswant Nagar in Etawah district, and Saifai, his native village. Though a large number of his supporters were denied nominations by Akhilesh, he managed to secure a ticket for himself from his traditional seat.

Akhilesh has not included him in the list of SP’s star campaigners, thereby isolating him in the party. Although Shivpal offered to campaign for the party nominees, none of them wanted him in his/her constituency fearing the wrath of Ram Gopal and Akhilesh.

Even local SP office bearers have stopped meeting him, sources said. His pictures were also missing from SP campaign posters.

Sources close to Shivpal said that he was deeply hurt by the treatment meted out to him by Akhilesh but there was very little he could do.
DH News Service