SP factions are deadlocked, even as UP election clock is ticking

New Delhi: With neither of the warring factions willing to blink, the intra-party feud in the Samajwadi Party (SP) remained deadlocked.

However, the fact that Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav who seems to be holding the advantage over his father and SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, suggests that a compromise is possible. The imminent announcement of election dates by the Election Commission will only add pressure on both sides to strike a deal.

In fact, a politically bruised Mulayam Singh reached out to Akhilesh Yadav, even while officially both factions were at war. After the telephonic conversation, Mulayam Singh Yadav, who was in Delhi, flew down to Lucknow for a face-to-face with his son—the meeting lasted nearly two hours and neither side were accompanied by their loyalists. Though, later Shivpal Yadav, who was sacked as the state president of the party by the Akhilesh Yadav faction, also joined them.

The meeting however failed to make headway.

“No compromise will be made. We will fight elections under Akhilesh Yadav as national president and the election commission will decide over the election symbol,” said Ram Gopal Yadav, party’s general secretary who was expelled from the party for calling SP’s national convention without Mulayam Singh’s permission on Sunday.

People in the party are veering around to support the CM on his demand for a greater say in ticket distribution.

“Akhilesh Yadav’s governance has transformed Uttar Pradesh and the election will be fought in his name and his development work. Most of the party is with him and wants that he should get a greater say in the candidate selection process. This sentiment was conveyed to Netaji (Mulayam Singh) in today’s meeting,” said a senior SP leader who did not wish to be named.

The meeting between the warring father (Mulayam Singh) and son (Akhilesh Yadav) was once again brokered by senior SP leader Azam Khan who had played peacemaker even on Saturday which had led to the re-entry of Akhilesh Yadav and Ram Gopal Yadav after being expelled on Friday.

Earlier in the morning, the chief minister’s close aides, Ram Gopal Yadav, Kiranmay Nanda and Naresh Aggarwal, met election commission (EC) officials in Delhi to present counter-claims over SP and its election symbol, a day after Mulayam Singh had approached the poll panel seeking claim over the party symbol.

Interestingly, all three who represented Akhilesh Yadav before the poll panel had been expelled from SP by Mulayam Singh after they participated in Sunday’s national convention.

“The real Samajwadi Party belongs to us as 90% of the people support us,” said Ram Gopal Yadav after meeting the commission.

With both factions presenting their case before the EC, all eyes on how the election body will rule. To be sure, with little time left for the state to go to polls, the commission is likely to freeze the existing symbol. In which case both factions will have to contest on a new symbol.

“Mulayam Singh and Akhilesh met today but we do not know definitively what is going to happen next. The infighting in Samajwadi Party has weakened its position. Samajwadi Party is a party based on one family and such differences do not get sorted easily. Irrespective of what happens in the end, there are definitely two factions now and both will try to fight each other out. In the long run, this will damage the party,” said S.K. Dwivedi, Lucknow-based political analyst.

(Anuja also contributed to the story)