Shivpal's men have no place in SP: Akhilesh Yadav

Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav said that the party legislators would choose the chief ministerial candidate after the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

Mulayam's comment was viewed by many as another setback to Akhilesh Yadav, who was recently removed from party's State president post.

The post was given to his uncle Shivpal Yadav and it is known that the nephew-uncle don't get along.

State party chief Shivpal Yadav and CM Akhilesh Yadav's uncle reproached the latter over the issue of parallel list of candidates.

Shivpal's choice of 175 candidates hasn't gone down well with Akhilesh who intends to release his own list.

Earlier on 24 December, Akhilesh had met first-time MLAs at his residence and assured them of getting party tickets angering Shivpal Yadav.

Mulayam Singh Yadav affirmed that his party would go solo while releasing the list of 325 candidates for the coming Assembly elections.

In a major snub to CM Akhilesh Yadav, many of his loyalist MLAs and Ministers were not included on the list.

The MLAs he disapproved found place on the list.

He was out on tour when the list came out.

In the list released by Mulayam Singh Yadav, 10 ministers who were sacked by Akhilesh over the last few months were included in the list of 325 candidates.

However, 3 of Akhilesh's loyalists - "Ayodhya MLA Tej Narain Pandey, expelled from the party by Shivpal, Arvind Singh 'Gope' and Ram Gobind Chaudhary" who faced the wrath of Shivpal Yadav were left out.

Giving a new turn to UP elections, UP CM Akhilesh Yadav released a list of 235 candidates for the upcoming assembly election.

Akhilesh announced tickets to his loyalists who had been left out of SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav's official list of 325 candidates.

Arvind Singh Gope, Pawan Pandey and Ram Govind Chaudhary are expected to contest on different symbols as independent candidates.

Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav has expelled UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and Ram Gopal Yadav from the party for six years on the grounds of indiscipline.

He mentioned that Ram Gopal has destroyed Akhilesh's future.

A while back, he had issued show cause notices to UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and SP minister Ram Gopal Yadav for anti-party activities.

In a dramatic turn of events, Mulayam Singh Yadav revoked the expulsion of Akhilesh and Ram Gopal Yadav post his meeting with his son.

Earlier today, Akhilesh Yadav had said he is not separate from his father and would win UP elections and present it as a gift to his father.

UP leader Azam Khan acted as a mediator to resolve the father-son dispute.

As the Samajwadi Party in-fighting intensified, sources said Akhilesh Yadav approached the EC to retain the party's cycle symbol; Mulayam also demanded the same and the EC will decide on the matter shortly.

Party cadre also shifted alliances, with Naresh Agarwal openly defying his expulsion ordered by Mulayam.

Political opponents took advantage of the situation, realigning their political campaigns to leverage the situation.

One day after Akhilesh Yadav was formally installed as Samajwadi Party's President by the Election Commission, Mulayam Singh Yadav accepted the political supremacy of his son.

While publicly declaring the same, Mulayam handed over to him a list of 38 candidates that he wants as SP candidates.

According to sources, Akhilesh will accommodate most of the names suggested by his father.

Brother of Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav, Shivpal Yadav has decided to form a new party of his own because of being "attacked repeatedly" by members of the SP.

The new party, however, will be formed only after 11th March, the day the results of the UP assembly elections will be announced.

Shivpal filed his nomination papers under the Samajwadi Party earlier today.

On Tuesday, Uttar Pradesh CM and National President of the Samajwadi Party said that Shivpal's loyalists had no place in the party.

Without naming his uncle, Akhilesh said, "Some insiders are responsible for discord within the party, and the same people are either instigating or directly opposing our candidates in the polls."