News Analysis India

Tag: Shivpal Singh Yadav

  • Samajwadi Party signals end of alliance with Omprakash Rajbhar, Shivpal Yadav

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: The Samajwadi Party on Saturday told allies Omprakash Rajbhar and Shivpal Singh Yadav that they are free to go, signalling a break-up after the two supported the BJP presidential candidate in the just concluded polls.

    Rajbhar said he has “accepted the divorce” given by SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and Shivpal Yadav too gave similar indication.

    In a letter to Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) president Omprakash Rajbhar, the SP said while they are fighting the BJP, Rajbhar “has a partnership” with the saffron party and was helping it.

    It said he is free to go if he feels he will get more respect there.

    In a similar letter to Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) President Shivpal Singh Yadav, the SP said that “he can go where he gets more respect”.

    The SP shared the letters on its official Twitter handle.

    Shivpal Yadav replied tersely to the SP’s move.

    pic.twitter.com/qc7T8GJAlr
    — Samajwadi Party (@samajwadiparty) July 23, 2022
    “Although I was always free, I sincerely thank the Samajwadi Party from the heart for giving me formal independence by issuing a letter. Compromising on principles and respect is unacceptable in a political journey,” he tweeted in Hindi.

    Rajbhar hit out at Akhilesh Yadav.

    “It is bad if I meet Yogi (Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath) but it is very good if Akhilesh Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav meet him,” he said, and warned the SP chief that the effect of his action “will be known by the 2024 elections”.

    Asked about his next step, he said that he will hold talks with the Bahujan Samaj Party.

    He also said that “Shivpal Yadav is our leader and we keep in touch with him”.

    The development came after Rajbhar and Shivpal Yadav supported the National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) presidential candidate Draupadi Murmu who defeated Yashwant Sinha, the opposition nominee supported by SP.

    In 2018, Shivpal Singh Yadav formed his new party after he was sidelined by Akhilesh Yadav.

    Akhilesh Yadav had reached out to his estranged uncle Shivpal Yadav ahead of the recent Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls and the latter had won the election from the Jaswant Nagar constituency on the SP symbol.

    However, the ties remained strained between the two.

    The Samajwadi Party had fought the recent Uttar Pradesh assembly polls together with Jayant Chaudhary’s RLD, Rajbhar’s SBSP, Apna Dal (Kamerawadi), Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia), Keshav Dev Maurya’s Mahan Dal and the Janwadi Party.

    But after the alliance failed to dislodge the BJP, there was much speculation about it falling apart.

    The Mahan Dal and the Janwadi Party have already severed ties with the SP.

    The SP is now left with only RLD and Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) as alliance partners.

    In the letter written in Hindi sent to Rajbhar, the SP said, “Shri Omprakash Rajbhar, Samajwadi Party is continuously fighting against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). You have an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party and are continuously working to strengthen the BJP. If you think that you will get more respect, then you are free to go there.”

    The letter to Shivpal read: “Honourable Shivpal Singh Yadav, if you feel that you will get more respect somewhere, then you are free to go there.”

    READ HERE | Don’t need anyone’s advice: Akhilesh Yadav on Rajbhar’s advice for SP, BSP to join hands

    Om Prakash Rajbhar’s proximity to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party was visible in the presidential election.

    Meanwhile, the UP government has provided ‘Y category’ security to Rajbhar.

    After the SP’s defeat in Azamgarh and Rampur Lok Sabha bypolls, Rajbhar had advised Akhilesh Yadav to go among the people and not do politics from an air-conditioned room.

    Rajbhar’s party won six seats in the recent state assembly elections in alliance with the state’s main opposition Samajwadi Party (SP).

    Rajbhar, a strong backward leader with influence in eastern UP districts, fought the 2017 assembly election in UP with the BJP but later parted ways and joined the SP-led alliance.

    LUCKNOW: The Samajwadi Party on Saturday told allies Omprakash Rajbhar and Shivpal Singh Yadav that they are free to go, signalling a break-up after the two supported the BJP presidential candidate in the just concluded polls.

    Rajbhar said he has “accepted the divorce” given by SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and Shivpal Yadav too gave similar indication.

    In a letter to Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) president Omprakash Rajbhar, the SP said while they are fighting the BJP, Rajbhar “has a partnership” with the saffron party and was helping it.

    It said he is free to go if he feels he will get more respect there.

    In a similar letter to Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) President Shivpal Singh Yadav, the SP said that “he can go where he gets more respect”.

    The SP shared the letters on its official Twitter handle.

    Shivpal Yadav replied tersely to the SP’s move.

    pic.twitter.com/qc7T8GJAlr
    — Samajwadi Party (@samajwadiparty) July 23, 2022
    “Although I was always free, I sincerely thank the Samajwadi Party from the heart for giving me formal independence by issuing a letter. Compromising on principles and respect is unacceptable in a political journey,” he tweeted in Hindi.

    Rajbhar hit out at Akhilesh Yadav.

    “It is bad if I meet Yogi (Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath) but it is very good if Akhilesh Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav meet him,” he said, and warned the SP chief that the effect of his action “will be known by the 2024 elections”.

    Asked about his next step, he said that he will hold talks with the Bahujan Samaj Party.

    He also said that “Shivpal Yadav is our leader and we keep in touch with him”.

    The development came after Rajbhar and Shivpal Yadav supported the National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) presidential candidate Draupadi Murmu who defeated Yashwant Sinha, the opposition nominee supported by SP.

    In 2018, Shivpal Singh Yadav formed his new party after he was sidelined by Akhilesh Yadav.

    Akhilesh Yadav had reached out to his estranged uncle Shivpal Yadav ahead of the recent Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls and the latter had won the election from the Jaswant Nagar constituency on the SP symbol.

    However, the ties remained strained between the two.

    The Samajwadi Party had fought the recent Uttar Pradesh assembly polls together with Jayant Chaudhary’s RLD, Rajbhar’s SBSP, Apna Dal (Kamerawadi), Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia), Keshav Dev Maurya’s Mahan Dal and the Janwadi Party.

    But after the alliance failed to dislodge the BJP, there was much speculation about it falling apart.

    The Mahan Dal and the Janwadi Party have already severed ties with the SP.

    The SP is now left with only RLD and Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) as alliance partners.

    In the letter written in Hindi sent to Rajbhar, the SP said, “Shri Omprakash Rajbhar, Samajwadi Party is continuously fighting against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). You have an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party and are continuously working to strengthen the BJP. If you think that you will get more respect, then you are free to go there.”

    The letter to Shivpal read: “Honourable Shivpal Singh Yadav, if you feel that you will get more respect somewhere, then you are free to go there.”

    READ HERE | Don’t need anyone’s advice: Akhilesh Yadav on Rajbhar’s advice for SP, BSP to join hands

    Om Prakash Rajbhar’s proximity to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party was visible in the presidential election.

    Meanwhile, the UP government has provided ‘Y category’ security to Rajbhar.

    After the SP’s defeat in Azamgarh and Rampur Lok Sabha bypolls, Rajbhar had advised Akhilesh Yadav to go among the people and not do politics from an air-conditioned room.

    Rajbhar’s party won six seats in the recent state assembly elections in alliance with the state’s main opposition Samajwadi Party (SP).

    Rajbhar, a strong backward leader with influence in eastern UP districts, fought the 2017 assembly election in UP with the BJP but later parted ways and joined the SP-led alliance.

  • Tongues wag as sulking Shivpal meets CM Yogi

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW:  Shivpal Singh Yadav, the sulking younger brother of Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, on Wednesday met Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, triggering speculation of realignment of political forces. 

    The development comes amid widening rift between Shivpal, who won the recent Assembly election from Jaswantnagar in Etawah on SP symbol, and his nephew and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav. After Shivpal took his oath office as an MLA of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, he proceeded to Yogi’s official residence and the two leaders were closeted for about 20 minutes.

    When reporters asked Shivpal whether he intends to join the BJP, he did not refute it, merely saying that he had already taken the oath of the House and did not want to say more than that for now. For the record, Shivpal’s Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party-Lohia termed it a “courtesy call” to greet Yogi on his victory and return to power in Uttar Pradesh. 

  • UP polls: Shivpal Singh Yadav to contest from Jaswant Nagar

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: Shivpal Singh Yadav will contest the assembly election from Jaswant Nagar in Uttar Pradesh as a candidate of the Samajwadi Party-Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) alliance.

    Jaswant Nagar in Etawah district will vote in the third phase on February 20.

    Yadav, who heads the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia), currently represents the constituency in the assembly.

    In a tweet in Hindi, the Samajwadi Party said, “Shivpal Singh Yadav ji will be the candidate of SP and PSP alliance from Jaswant Nagar assembly seat of Etawah.”

    Shivpal Singh Yadav had got into a tussle with his nephew and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav and formed the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) before the last assembly polls in 2017.

    In december last, they announced an alliance for the assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh to be held in seven phases between February 10 and March 7.

    The results will be announced on March 10.

  • Political parties of same ideology must join hands for UP polls: Shivpal Yadav 

    By PTI

    GHAZIABAD: Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohiya) president Shivpal Singh Yadav on Sunday, October 31, 2021, urged all political parties that share the same ideology to join hands for the 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.

    He said forming an alliance with the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party would be his priority.

    He was addressing mediapersons in Ghaziabad where he arrived as part of his Samajik Parivartan Rath Yatra.

    He also said private sector reservation must be provided to backwards castes, Dalits, Muslims and the upper caste poor, according to a party statement issued by its national spokesman Nahar Singh.

    He also attacked the BJP governments in the state and at the Centre alleging they are busy in changing names and aiding the corporate sector.

    The government is deliberately privatising public sector undertakings which would adversely impact the poor class, he said.

    He also attacked the government over the farmers’ protest, claiming the government is not paying any heed to the demands of the agitating farmers.

    He also raised the issue of inflation, saying the skyrocketing prices of fuel and cooking gas have made the life of poor and ordinary class people difficult.

  • Samajwadi Party should join united front to dislodge BJP: PSP-Lohia chief Shivpal Yadav

    By PTI

    SAMBHAL: Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party-Lohia president Shivpal Singh Yadav on Wednesday said all like-minded parties should unite to dislodge the BJP from power and their effort is that the Samajwadi Party (SP) also join the front.

    The former UP minister, who had quit the Samajwadi Party after differences with his nephew Akhilesh Yadav and formed his own outfit, also alleged that the bureaucracy is working in an arbitrary manner.

    He also accused the state’s BJP government of failing to check crime. Yadav told reporters here that his outfit has readied itself for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls next year, for which all like-minded parties should unite to dislodge the BJP from power. “Our effort is that the Samajwadi Party should also be part of this (united front) so that we are successful in removing the BJP from power,” he said.

    Attacking CM Yogi Adityanath over law and order, Yadav said incidents of murder, dacoity and rape have become common. “The government of Yogi Adityanath has failed on all fronts,” he said, adding that bureaucracy too is working in an arbitrary manner.

    He also criticised the Centre’s farm laws, saying these have ruined farmers.

  • Akhilesh Yadav likely to join hands with uncle to take on BJP

    By Express News Service
    LUCKNOW: Four years after Shivpal Singh Yadav, younger brother of Samajwadi Party (SP) patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, severed ties with his nephew Akhilesh Yadav, the party chief, it seems, is set to join hands with his uncle along with smaller parties to contest the UP Assembly polls scheduled for next year.  

    Shivpal, on September 28, 2018, had announced his new political party Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party after falling out with Akhilesh. Shivpal had complained that he felt neglected in the SP, which was founded by his elder brother Mulayam, after his nephew took charge. On Thursday, Akhilesh has ruled out any alliance with any major political party in the 2022 Assembly polls and has openly said his party will go with smaller parties.

    “As per the aspirations of our workers, we’ll not have any alliance with any major/big parties, but will certainly have tie-ups with small parties. Chacha se bhi baat karenge (I’ll talk to uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav also) while partnering with smaller parties,” the SP supremo and ex-UP CM said on his birthday on Thursday.

    The announcement raised the possibility of patch up with his uncle. Recently, there have been unconfirmed reports of the melting of ice between the uncle and nephew  and the recent pictures of them together at a family wedding are a key indicator of that possibility, even as Shivpal had publicly said that he would work only on building an alliance of smaller parties, including AIMIM, to fight out the ruling BJP.

    The unopposed election of the SP candidate for the post of chairperson of district panchayat in Etawah could only happen due to uncle Shivpal’s tacit support to his nephew led to party’s candidate. 

  • UP assembly polls: Akhilesh Yadav not to align with big players but open to tie-ups with small parties

    By Express News Service
    LUCKNOW: Just a few days after the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) announced to go solo in the next assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party (SP) announced its decision not to align with any major players.

    “As per the aspirations of our workers, we’ll not have an alliance with any major/big parties, but will certainly have tie-ups with small parties. Chacha se bhi baat karenge (I’ll talk to uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav also) while partnering with smaller parties,” the SP chief and ex-UP CM Akhilesh Yadav said on his birthday on Thursday.

    This announcement by the ex-UP CM raised the possibility of patch up with his uncle and ex-UP cabinet minister Shivpal Singh Yadav, who since 2018 has his own party, the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party.

    Shivpal, the younger sibling of SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav had severed ties with his nephew Akhilesh just a few months before the 2017 assembly polls in UP.

    Recently, there have been unconfirmed reports of the melting of ice between chacha and bhatija (uncle and nephew) and the recent pictures of the uncle-nephew duo together at a family wedding strengthens that possibility. However, Shivpal Singh Yadav had publicly said that he will work only on building an alliance of smaller parties, including Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM to fight out the ruling BJP in the 2022 polls in UP.

    Importantly, the unopposed election of the SP candidate for the post of chairperson of district panchayat in the Yadav family’s home Etawah district could only happen with Shivpal’s support.

    The family feud in the Yadav family headed by Mulayam has been politically costing the family in UP since 2017 assembly polls, where the Akhilesh Yadav led party came up with its worst performance with just 47 seats and 21.62% votes — 177 seats less than its 2012 tally of 224. Even an alliance with Congress and RLD didn’t help against the BJP’s historic majority of 312 seats.

    In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls also, SP shelved its long-standing bitterness with Mayawati-led BSP, but the outcome of the alliance was more in favour of the elephant symbol party and than SP’s bicycle symbol as the BSP increased its tally from zero to 10 while the latter only managed to hold on to its 2014 tally of five seats.  

    Over the last few months, the Akhilesh Yadav led SP has been working at cobbling a vote bank of OBC (Yadavs and other OBC castes) along with non Jatav scheduled castes and the Muslims to return to power in 2022 polls.

    The SP’s strategy to align only with smaller parties seems to have been driven by the success of BJP’s similar strategy in the 2017 assembly polls and the 2019 general elections in the politically crucial state.

    While the SP has already aligned with small party Mahan Dal (which had sided with Congress in 2019 Lok Sabha polls), it’s also eyeing tie-ups with Om Prakash Rajbhar’s SBSP (a former BJP ally) and NISHAD Party (presently in alliance with ruling BJP) to eat into the BJP’s non-Yadav OBC and non-Jatav scheduled caste votes. The OBC comprises over 45% of UP’s total voters.

    Reacting to SP chief Akhilesh Yadav’s announcement of not aligning with any major political party in 2022 polls, BSP chief and ex UP CM Mayawati tweeted that it is the party’s anti-Dalit mindset, which has made all major political parties stay away from it.