Shivpal dares Akhilesh Yadav to expel him from SP legislature party

Though the SP president had not taken names, the comment came in the backdrop of Shivpal Yadav's recent meeting with UP CM Yogi Adityanath.

In an indication of worsening relations between Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav and his uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav, the latter on Thursday dared the former to 'expel' him from the party if Akhilesh was certain that he (Shivpal) was in touch with the BJP and could join the saffron party in the near future.

''He (Akhilesh) is the president of the party...I am just an MLA....if he thinks that I am hobnobbing with the BJP then he should expel me,'' Shivpal said in an informal chat with the reporters here.

Akhilesh had a few days back said that the SP had no place for those, who were sympathetic to the BJP and had plans to join the saffron party.

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''SP has no place for such people....we do not work under pressure...whosoever meets the BJP leaders can not remain in our party,'' he added.

Shivpal, who had buried differences with Akhilesh during the recently concluded assembly polls in the state, was upset with the SP president after he was not invited to attend the meeting of the SP legislature party recently in which Akhilesh was elected leader paving the way for him to become the leader of the opposition in the state assembly.

Speculations started doing the rounds after Shivpal met Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath last month and was closeted with him for around half an hour. When asked if he could join the BJP, Shivpal remained evasive and said that he would disclose his future course of action soon.

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Sources close to Shivpal however said that he could be sent to Rajya Sabha by the BJP and his son Aditya Yadav could be fielded from Jaswant Nagar from where he was currently an MLA. Shivpal, who had formed his own outfit Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party after being expelled from the SP by Akhilesh in 2016, and Akhilesh buried their differences before the state assembly polls. Shivpal contested on the SP symbol and had also campaigned for the party.

Although Shivpal's party, which had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, could not win any seat, it certainly affected SP's prospects on at least four to six seats. Shivpal, who had contested against Akshay Yadav, his nephew, from the Firozabad LS seat, ensured the defeat of the latter by bagging around one lakh votes. Akshay's margin of defeat was less than one lakh. Similarly, he also played spoilsport at Kannauj, Etawah and some other seats.

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