Shivpal wooing Mulayam loyalists to counter Akhilesh

Shivpal Singh Yadav, rebel Samajwadi Party (SP) leader who recently formed Samajwadi Secular Morcha (SCM), has been trying to woo old Mulayam (his elder brother and SP patron) loyalists to counter his nephew and SP supremo Akhilesh Yadav.

Shivpal has been visiting districts and meeting the old SP leaders, especially those, who were upset with the sidelining of Mulayam by Akhilesh, and inviting them to join his Morcha.

''The Morcha will give them (old guards) the respect they deserve... they will be given important posts in the organisation and will also be offered nominations in the polls,'' said a Shivpal aide here.

Speaking to Deccan Herald here, the leader said that Akhilesh had completely ''sidelined'' Mulayam and the leaders, who were his loyalists. ''These are the people, who had played a crucial role in the formation of the SP,'' he added.

The leader claimed that a large number of old guards were joining the Morcha every day.

Shivpal, who recently appointed presidents of the district units of his outfit, managed to rope in several senior SP leaders. ''Almost all the district unit chiefs were in the SP... many of them had even occupied posts in the SP organisation,'' the leader said.

Interestingly a majority of the office bearers of the Morcha hailed from 'Yadav' and Muslim communities, who formed the vote bank for the SP. ''Humiliating Shivpal is going to cost Akhilesh dear in the next Lok Sabha elections,'' he remarked further.

Though Mulayam had sided with his son Akhilesh in the family feud and tried to persuade Shivpal to return to the party fold, the latter made it clear that things had reached the point of no return.