In a 1st, separate Holi revelry for Mulayam's village

In an indication that their differences were now beyond repair, Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav and his uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav celebrated Holi separately at their ancestral village of Saifai in Uttar Pradesh's Mainpuri district, about 300 kilometres, from here, on Thursday.

It was the first time that SP patron Mulayam Singh Yadav's family celebrated the festival separately.

Two separate stages were made for the Holi celebrations by the Yadav family. On one stage were Shivpal and his son Aditya Yadav.

On the other stage were Mulayam, his younger brother and party general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav, Akhilesh, his cousin Akshoy Yadav and Dharmendra Yadav.

The members of the warring families maintained distance from each other's function and did not exchange Holi greetings also, according to the reports.

Speaking on the occasion, Akhilesh exhorted the SP workers to ensure victory of Akshoy Yadav, who was SP nominee from Ferozabad Lok Sabha seat. Shivpal has declared that he will contest from Ferozabad against his nephew Akshoy.

Shivpal, on the other hand, told his supporters to do the opposite and ensure his victory from the seat. He also said that he had tried to forge electoral alliance with the Congress but the latter did not agree.

Akhilesh and Shivpal had fallen out in 2016 after the former sacked from the ministry. Attempts made by Mulayam to bring the two together failed. Shivpal has formed his own outfit Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (PSP) and has vowed to field his candidates on all the 80 LS seats in the state.