It’s a SPat! High drama unfolds at party meet

Uttar Pradesh was plunged into political uncertainty with Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav being publicly attacked and called a “liar” by his uncle and Samajwadi Party State chief Shivpal Yadav at the ruling party’s all-important meeting in Lucknow on Monday.

A late-evening meeting called to broker peace between Akhilesh and Shivpal by SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav reportedly ended in a stalemate while the CM was under tremendous pressure from his uncle to quit. While Mulayam stopped short of expelling his son and taking over as CM, Akhilesh was left in tears at the party meeting after being pushed around and humiliated by his father and uncle.

Reports from Lucknow suggested that Shivpal has refused to accept Akhilesh as CM, and is planning to sack ten more of his supporters from the party. Outside the SP office, supporters of Akhilesh and Shivpal clashed with each other through the day.

High drama reined at the party meeting when Akhilesh accused party General Secretary and newly-appointed MP Amar Singh of “conspiring” against him, an accusation that led to Shivpal snatching the mike from him and calling him a liar in full public view.

This transpired while Mulayam was speaking to the delegates in the meeting — MPs, MLAs and important office-bearers of the party. He chided Akhilesh on his style of working, telling him at one point, “ Tumhari haisiyat hi kya hai (who do you think you are)?.” Mulayam also told Akhilesh that his bête noire Amar Singh and Shivpal Yadav will remain in the party. “Amar Singh has helped me a lot; he is my brother. I cannot tolerate anything against Amar Singh and Shivpal. Amar Singh saved me from jail,” Mulayam said.

At one point, Mulayam said he had received a letter from Muslims that the CM is trying to alienate them. An emotional Akhilesh got up and asked his father to show him the letter. Mulayam erupted in anger and told his son, “Don’t talk to me like that. Go back to your seat.”

But Akhilesh did not relent. While he demanded that his father shows him the letter that he was quoting, he also asserted that his friend Amar Singh was conspiring to unseat him.

“There is a conspiracy against me by Amar Singh. Reports are being planted against me in newspapers, they call me Aurangzeb and they call you Shahjahan,” Akhilesh told Mulayam.

While this was going on, Shivpal lunged forward and snatched the mic from Akhilesh. He pushed Akhilesh aside and said, “The Chief Minister is lying.” Ugly scenes erupted with supporters on both sides exchanging blows and shouting slogans. An angry Mulayam had to be bundled out of the meeting by security personnel.

Earlier during the day, Mulayam tried to broker peace by saying that “Akhilesh will be in the party as would Shivpal and Amar Singh.” He asked Akhilesh to hug his uncle but the Chief Minister touched his feet instead. This is following Shivpal’s allegation that Akhilesh is trying to split the SP and float his own party.

“Recently, I went to meet the CM. He said he would float his own party and align with some other parties. I can take an oath on Gangajal, this is true,” said Shivpal, targeting the CM.

Following this accusation, an emotional Akhilesh told his father that all that he has done in his tenure as CM is implement his and the party’s agenda. “You have placed me on these heights. Where will I go from where? I cannot do anything else. I have done my best, toiled hard for the welfare of the people. You are my father but you are also my guru,” said a tearful Akhilesh, his voice choking with emotion.

The crisis was precipitated with Akhilesh sacking Shivpal from his Cabinet for the second time, along with his supporters. Shivpal responded by sacking his brother and MP Ram Gopal Yadav who has been supporting Akhilesh in the family feud.

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