Apparently rewarding his uncle and one of the founders of the party Sivpal Singh Yadav for Samajwadi Party's (SP) massive win in recent Mainpuri Lok Sabha bypolls, party president Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday appointed him as one of the national general secretaries.
Rajya Sabha member Ram Gopal Yadav remains the principal national general secretary and Kironmoy Nanda the national vice-president. Senior SP leader Azam Khan and Swami Prasad Maurya, whose remarks on the Hindu epic 'Ram Charit Manas' triggered a huge controversy, have also been made national general secretaries.
The party issued a list of 62 members to its national executive. It has sought to take care of the caste equations keeping in view the next general elections in 2024.
Shivpal, who had parted ways with Akhilesh after being expelled from the SP in 2016 and had formed his own outfit, merged his Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (PSP) with the SP immediately after the Mainpuri victory, signaling that the uncle and the nephew had buried the hatchet. ''There are no differences between us now. We have been waiting for this victory. The family is united and will remain so,'' Sivpal had said.
Shivpal, who was an MLA from Jaswant Nagar, one of the assembly segments of Mainpuri LS seat, had extensively campaigned for party nominee and Akhilesh's wife Dimple Yadav and also ensured that she attained maximum leader from Jaswant Nagar.
A senior SP leader here said that Akhilesh, who had declared that his party would soon take to the streets with issues concerning the common people, would need Shivpal to make it a success as the latter was considered to be a man of organisation.
Published 29 January 2023, 10:57 IST