Akhilesh, Shivpal cross swords again at SP event, Lalu Yadav tries to play peacemaker

Pankaj Jaiswal and M Tariq Khan, Hindustan Times, Lucknow

Updated: Nov 06, 2016 01:37 IST

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav with party state president Shivpal Yadav and RJD chief Lalu Prasad in Lucknow on Saturday. (PTI Photo)

Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and his uncle Shivpal traded angry barbs in public on Saturday as the family feud in Uttar Pradesh’s ruling family marred by 25^th year celebrations of the Samajwadi Party.

Former Bihar chief minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Lalu Prasad had to intervene to try and pacify Akhilesh and Shivpal, both of whom dropped the bonhomie they had displayed moments earlier to tear into each other.

Amid the angry exchanges, there was no decision on the grand alliance the SP is pushing for with other non-BJP parties, although several erstwhile Janata Parivaar leaders did attend the function as a mark of solidarity. BSP chief Mayawati, however, mocked the alliance attempt at a press conference in Delhi in the evening.

She said the move was a reflection of the SP “already accepting defeat” before next year’s assembly polls. Former prime minister HD Deve Gowda also batted for a third front under SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav for the 2019 general elections. Mulayam, however, did not speak on the issue.

But before Mulayam’s address, the spotlight was firmly on Shivpal’s tirade and Akhilesh’s response.

“How much more will you humiliate me?...Sack me, insult me but I have also struggled and done a good job in the departments that were given to me,” Shivpal said in front of thousands of shocked supporters who had trooped into the sprawling Janeshwar Mishra Park for the silver jubilee celebrations.

“I do not want to be CM. I am willing to make any number of sacrifices but I will not tolerate those who insult ‘netaji’ (Mulayam Singh Yadav),” he said, apparently referring to several youth leaders who had protested Akhilesh’s removal as the SP’s state president by the party patriarch. The youth leaders close to Akhilesh were later expelled by Shivpal.

It had led to several tit-for-tat sackings by Akhilesh and Shivpal, deepening the crisis in the party. The party was hoping to send out a message that all was well in the party and family during the celebrations. And before Shivpal spoke, Akhilesh had touched his and Mulayam’s feet, drawing raucous cheers from party workers.

But when his turn to speak came, Akhilesh hit back without naming his uncle.

“Kuch log sunege to zaroor, magar sab bigar jaane ke baad (Some people would make amends but then the damage would have been done)…Lohiaji (Ram Manohar Lohia) said he would be heard but only after his death. Same way, some people would never understand,” the chief minister said.

“I do not want anyone to prove his credentials. I am also prepared for any test but I do not want to reply to all the issues that have been raised here.”

The war of words between the warring ‘chacha-bhatija’ came two days after an apparent show of unity by Mulayam, Shivpal and Akhilesh at the flagging-off of Akhilesh’s statewide yatra.

“You have given me a sword but no authority to use it,” Akhilesh said, referring to a rapier presented by Gayatri Prasad Prajapati, who he had sacked over graft allegations but later reinducted on Mulayam’s insistence.

Mulayam, who spoke last, skirted the family feud but did ask his chief minister-son to pay heed to what senior leaders have said.

He thanked leaders of the RJD, RLD and JD (U) leaders for attending the event but did not clear the air on the party’s chief ministerial candidate.

MP Amar Singh, whose inclusion in the SP was protested by Akhilesh, did not attend the event.

Lalu Prasad gave the finishing touches with his rustic humour. “Journalists ask me about the fight in the Samajwadi family. I told them that since nobody can fight us we fight among ourselves,” he said.

Too early to talk of alliance, says JD (U) as SP readies for big bash in Lucknow

Pankaj Jaiswal & M Tariq Khan, Hindustan Times, LUCKNOW

Updated: Nov 05, 2016 08:46 IST

Akhilesh Yadav, chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and the son of Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, waves at his supporters during a Rath Yatra as part of an election campaign in Lucknow. (REUTERS)

The Samajwadi Party (SP) will kick off its poll campaign at its 25th year celebrations on Saturday with the focus mainly on cobbling together an alliance of ‘secular’ parties to check the BJP in next year’s assembly polls.

Leaders of several parties including the Janata Dal (Secular), Rashtriya Janata Dal and Rashtriya Lok Dal are expected to attend the celebrations though Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar will skip the meet.

After weeks a bitter family feud, there are visible signs of rapprochement among the SP leadership including chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and his uncle and state president Shivpal.

Though other parties are yet to commit on any alliance, party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav and Shivpal are said to be keen on keeping secular votes together to stave off the BJP’s attempt to capture power in the politically crucial state.

“It is too early to say that the alliance is happening. It certainly is not happening on Saturday in Lucknow. Possibilities are being explored and an alliance would happen depending on how much flexibility Mulayam Singhji, who is the senior most socialist leader, shows,” JD-U leader KC Tyagi told HT over the phone.

“It is up to the Samajwadi Party as to whom they want to project as its CM candidate. Of course, we want the SP to stay united and sort out its internal conflicts for it is necessary to fight the BJP,” Tyagi added.

Founded in 1992 at the Begum Hazrat Mahal Park in Lucknow, the SP is pinning its hopes on a grand alliance – mahagathbandhan – on the lines of a similar grouping that managed to defeat the BJP in Bihar last year.

The proposed alliance attempts to bring together members of the erstwhile Janata Parivar, floated in 2015 to check the BJP after it swept the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. The alliance collapsed ahead of the Bihar assembly poll when the SP walked out of the grouping due to differences over seat-sharing. Nitish Kumar managed to bring the RJD and Congress together to form the winning alliance.

On day 1, Akhilesh Yadav’s ‘rath yatra’ stumbles over technical, family hurdles

     Pankaj Jaiswal and M Tariq Khan, Hindustan Times, Lucknow

Updated: Nov 03, 2016 22:52 IST

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav with Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav and party state president Shivpal Yadav ahead of the start of the Rath Yatra in Lucknow on November 3, 2016. (PTI)

Lucknow:  Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav launched his much-awaited road show on Thursday, vowing to win next year’s assembly elections amid a show of unity in Uttar Pradesh’s ruling family and a sea of ecstatic young supporters.

But even before the chief minister’s high-tech Mercedes Benz ‘Vikas Rath’ had travelled a kilometere, Samajwadi Party state president Shivpal Yadav struck a discordant note at a hurriedly called press conference, saying the yatra was not the official launch of the party’s campaign for next year’s assembly elections.

Akhilesh and Shivpal have been locked in a bitter power struggle over the past few months that prompted tit-for-tat sackings of supporters on either side from both the party and the government.

Thousands of party supporters thronged the route of the yatra, flagged off by party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav in Lucknow with Akhilesh and Shivpal on either side. The launch went off smoothly despite supporters of Akhilesh and Shivpal coming to blows.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav waves to supporters as he continues his yatra in an SUV after his bus broke down. The Samajwadi’s Vikas Rath Yatra started from Lamartinire school ground on November 3, 2016. (Ashok Dutta/HT Photo)

More trouble was to follow soon when the ‘rath’ broke down barely half-a-kilometer into the yatra. Akhilesh stepped out of the bus and continued the rest of the journey in an SUV.

A glum-faced Shivpal did wish his nephew’s yatra a success in a brief speech during the flagging-off but Akhilesh did not mention his uncle even once.

But later at the press conference, Shivpal said the party’s poll bugle will be blown at its silver jubilee event on Saturday, belying popular perception that the yatra will mark the launch of the party’s campaign.

“The yatra is being taken out under the leadership of Akhilesh. It will give a message to the entire UP and popularise work by our government,” Shivpal said at the flag-off as the large number of the chief minister’s supporters chanted, “Akhilesh, Akhilesh”.

In his address, the chief minister sent out a message to the senior leadership, seen siding with Shivpal in the power struggle.

“Youth was always with the party and will stay with it. If the party needs experience, it also needs energy,” Akhilesh said.

“As this rath will move, it will unite our party workers as well as netas.”

Mulayam, who had earlier publicly rebuked Akhilesh over the face-off with Shivpal, took a dig at the young supporters.

Clearly unhappy with slogans of “Yeh jawani hai kurban, Akhilesh bhaiya tere naam (the youth is ready to sacrifice all for brother Akhilesh), Mulayam said those who are talking about sacrifice will run helter-skelter if they face police lathi-charge.

“They don’t know what struggle is. Apart from sloganeering, they should try to study and learn the party’s and its leaders’ philosophies,” he said.

The chief minister was accompanied by his wife, Dimple Yadav, and their children until the Mercedes bus that took hours to negotiate the crowds at the La Martinere grounds broke down.

Akhilesh had swept to power in 2012 and is hoping to lead the party again to victory in elections scheduled early next year.

As it happened: Akhilesh Yadav’s ‘Vikas Rath Yatra’ flagged off in Lucknow

Sunita Aron, Pankaj Jaiswal and M Tariq Khan, Hindustan Times, Lucknow

Updated: Nov 03, 2016 15:14 IST

UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav’s Vikas Rath in Lucknow. (HT Photo)

Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav flagged off UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav’s

rath yatra in the presence of state party chief Shivpal Yadav in Lucknow.

Ending days of suspense on whether he will be present or not, the SP patriarch arrived at La Martinere grounds - the flag off venue - soon after Akhilesh reached there. Shivpal also joined them moments later.

Mulayam took a seat on the stage and was flanked by Shivpal on one side and Akhilesh on the other to send a message that the party was united ahead of the upcoming UP Assemly elections barely a few months away.

“Akhilesh ko hum shubhkamna detey hain (I wish him well),” Shivpal said, adding the “vikas sey vijay ki aur yatra” will send a message of unity across the state and halt BJP in its tracks.

Below are the live updates:

3:08pm: Engineers of Bharat Benz the company which made the customised rath have bee trying to repair it for over three hours now but without any success.

2:55pm: Mulayam to decide on “mahagathbandhan” but this is our silver jubilee function and secular forces would be there, says Shivpal Yadav.

2:50pm: They should not have come, says Shivpal on the presence of leaders expelled from the party.

2:48pm: We will begin our concerted poll campaign from this event and defeat BJP , says Shivpal Yadav

2:45pm: Former prime minister HD Deve Gowda, Sharad Yadav, Lalu, Ajit Singh, Akhilesh Yadav, Abhay Chautala, Ram Jethmalani to attend Party’s silver jubilee function on Nov 5, says Shivpal Yadav.

2:00pm: The chief minister’s convoy had only managed to reach Shaheedpath in Lucknow’s outskirts. Officials say he is running at least four hours late of the planned schedule.

1:00pm: I will actively campaign as advised by party, says Dimple Yadav

12:00pm: Akhilesh leaves‘Vikas Rath’ after snag, resumes yatra in a car

11:50am: Vikas Rath breaks down on Lucknow’s Lohia Path. The 25-minute wait lead to a traffic jam.

11:46am: BJP will have to tell people what they have done for the government: Akhilesh

11:40am: Speaking on soldiers, Akhilesh says governments will have to think of the family welfare of those who are sacrificing life for this country. PM celebrated Diwali while a jawan committed suicide.”

We will not allow communal forces to change poll agenda. We need both you energy and experience of old to win the election. We are telling our cadre against communal polarisation: Akhilesh

11:39am: “It’s election time, parties will take out rath yatras. People will assess on the basis of party’s performance and we will emerge winner on the basis of our development works,” says Akhilesh.

As this rath will move , it will unite our party workers as well as netas: Akhilesh

11:37am: “Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav) will decide alliances and who gets what. SP will form secular govt,” says Akhilesh.

11:27am: “Response is positive; for the first time we have seen such enthusiasm among the youth. They see a lot of hope in Akhilesh ji,” says Dimple.

Akhilesh said “development is most important as people want that”

11:25am: Akhilesh’s wife and SP MP Dimple Yadav says blessings of elders is important. Akhilesh’s family is travelling with him in the Samajwadi Vikas Rath.

11:20am: Ramgopal Yadav was not present but his son and MP son Akshay Yadav was present.

11:10am: This was for the first time that almost all of Yadav Parivar was seen together. Mulayam, Shivpal, Akhilesh, both daughters-in-law of Mulayam , were on the stage

10:40am: Akhilesh Yadav’s Rath Yatra flagged off, SP supremo Mulayam Singh Ydava launches the yatra

10:32am: A view one of the cabins inside the rath

10:30am: Samajwadi Party will win with a huge margin in the upcoming polls, says Mulayam Singh Yadav

10:25: SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav arrives at the stage, praises Indian Army

10:22am: In the coming days, SP will form a majority government, says Akhilesh Yadav

10:20am: I would like to thank all supporters for making this Yatra successful, says Akhilesh Yadav

10:17am: Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav speaks at the rally, says SP has connected villages with cities

10:14am: Our aim is that BJP shouldn’t be able to form a government in Uttar Pradesh, says Shivpal Yadav

9:05am: Rajendra Chowdhary and Dharmendra Yadav, party MPs from Budaun, were among the first ones to reach the venue.

The Chief Minister will end the Vikas Yatra the same evening and return to Lucknow. He will restart his Rath Yatra again on November 7, after attending the silver jubilee gala of the Samajwadi Party on November 5.

Akhilesh Yadav Rath Yatra to roll out today

Akhilesh Yadav’s ‘Vikas Rath Yatra’ set to roll out today from Lucknow

Pankaj Jaiswal and M Tariq Khan, Hindustan Times, Lucknow

Updated: Nov 03, 2016 09:21 IST

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav is undertaking a day-long ‘Vikas Yatra’ on November 3, 2016. (HT Photo) 

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav is set to embark on a ‘Vikas Rath Yatra’ on Thursday which will be flagged off by Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav in Lucknow.

“Netaji (Mulayam) with other senior party leaders would flag off the ‘rath yatra’,” the chief minister’s close aide, Rajendra Chowdhary, told HT on Wednesday.

According to Chowdhary, over 3,000 vehicles, mostly SUVs, would be part of the entourage.

Party MLC Sunil Yadav Sajan, who is also incharge of first leg of the yatra, told PTI that at every second kilometre, the CM will be welcomed and he will also address gatherings at various locations.

All roads leading to the venue – La Martiniere College ground – have been decorated with banners and were choked with people and vehicles on Thursday morning.

All schools on the yatra route are closed in view of the large turnout expected for the event.

This is Akhilesh’s third ‘yatra’ since 2001-2002 but at that time he had covered the constituencies on a cycle, for which he also holds a record, according to Chowdhary.

Billed as ‘Vikas se Vijay tak’ (from development to victory), the ‘rath yatra’ would start at 9am from La Martiniere College ground for Unnao, which is around 55 kilometres from Lucknow.

Apart from two huge receptions that have been planned in the state capital – one in Gomti Nagar and another one near the Chaudhary Charan Singh airport — the chief minister would address several public meetings along the route.

The ruling party is all set to celebrate its silver jubilee on November 5.

Samajwadi Party supporters on their way to the venue of CM Akhilesh Yadav’s ‘Vikas Rath Yatra’ in Lucknow on Nov. 3, 2016. (HT Photo )

Traffic police have been put on standby to handle the large volumes of traffic on Thursday, as thousands of vehicles are likely to join the yatra.

Moreover, since the yatra is happening amid a power struggle between Mulayam-Shivpal on one side and Akhilesh and the young leaders on the other, a major show of strength is lately on the cards, leading to huge chaos.

“We expect more than 20,000 small and big vehicles to tail the Rath of our dear Bhaiyya ji (as Akhilesh is fondly called by his supporters) and the convoy could be more than 35-km long,” said his enthusiastic supporters.

While the red-colour Mercedes bus has the images of SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, chief minister himself, socialist ideologues Jayaprakash Narayan, Ram Manohar Lohia and Jnaneshwar Mishra, his uncle Shivpal’s picture is seen neither on the vehicle nor elsewhere.

The bus also has pictures of the flagship schemes of the state government -- Agra-Lucknow Expressway, Free Laptop Scheme and 1090 Women helpline.

The 37-foot-long and 15-foot tall bus has all the facilities like Wi-Fi connection, telephone connectivity, a small wash room, a mini-war room and a motorised platform, which will be propelled up by a hydraulic shaft that will bring Akhilesh out of the bus, face to face with the people.

In the first phase, he will venture out from the La Martinere Boys College in Lucknow, and after covering more than 75 km will conclude at the stadium in Shuklaganj, Unnao.

The Chief Minister will end the Vikas Yatra the same evening and return to Lucknow. He will restart his Rath Yatra again on November 7, after attending the silver jubilee gala of the Samajwadi Party on November 5.

Akhilesh Rath Yatra

Akhilesh Yadav’s UP ‘rath yatra’ begins on Thursday in Mulayam’s presence

M Tariq Khan, Hindustan Times, Lucknow

Updated: Nov 02, 2016 21:55 IST

Samajwadi Party members prepare a model of a cycle, the party symbol, ahead of UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav’s Rath Yatra, in Meerut on Wednesday. (PTI)

Samajwadi Party (SP) president Mulayam Singh Yadav, along with other party leaders, will flag off the much-publicised ‘rath yatra’ of chief minister Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow on November 3.

As the custom-made hi-tech ‘rath’ reached the chief minister’s residence in Lucknow on Tuesday, leaders of the youth wings of the party, which has been hit by a feud, looked determined to make the event a huge draw.

“Netaji (Mulayam) with other senior party leaders would flag off the ‘rath yatra’, the details of which would be made available soon,” the chief minister’s close aide, Rajendra Chowdhary, informed HT.

Two prominent English medium schools in the vicinity, — La Martiniere Boys and Loreto Convent ( a girls’ school) -have ordered closure on Thursday in view of the large turnout.

According to Chowdhary, over 3,000 vehicles, mostly SUVs, would be part of the entourage.

All roads leading to the venue – La Martiniere College ground – have been decorated with banners as senior police officers and the chief minister’s security personnel made tnecessary security arrangements for the event.

Akhilesh had announced the launch of his ‘yatra’ on October 3, but called it off in the thick of the Yadav family feud. This would be his third ‘yatra’ since 2001-2002 but at that time he had covered the constituencies on a cycle, for which he also holds a record, according to Chowdhary.

The ‘Kranti Rath’ Akhilesh used in 2012 was inherited from his father and SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.

On November 5, the ruling party is all set to celebrate its silver jubilee and the man in-charge of it is Akhilesh uncle and the party’s state unit president, Shivpal Yadav.

A poster war among the supporters of the two leaders is on display now with attempts to make their respective events a bigger draw than the other.

‘Uncle’ (Shivpal) is missing and only pictures of the chief minister and party patriarch Mulayam dot the hoardings and posters put up by the SP youth leaders along the roads leading to the venue of the rath yatra event.

A solitary billboard put up by Shivpal’s supporters, however, claims: “Shivpal kahen dil se, Akhilesh ka abhishek phir se’ (Shivpal sincerely wants Akhilesh to be CM again).” So, would he be there on November 3?

“I would attend the function if I am invited,” he had said when he was asked last week whether he would take part in the CM’s ‘rath yatra’ event. He had taken the same stand on going to a meeting of all party MLAs called on October 23 by Akhilesh, but the invite never came.

“We are not focusing on anything else right now. I have only one leader and that is Akhilesh and we are going to make his ‘rath yatra’ a historic success,” said Ebad Ansari, the expelled Yuvjan Sabha chief.

Billed as ‘Vikas se Vijay tak’ (from development to victory), the ‘rath yatra’ would start at 9am from La Martiniere College ground for Unnao, which is around 55 kilometres from Lucknow.

Apart from two huge receptions that have been planned in the state capital – one in Gomti Nagar and another one near the Chaudhary Charan Singh airport — the chief minister would address several public meetings along the route.

The SP, however, is not the only party gearing up for 2017 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. Almost all major political parties are set to hit the campaign trail from November.

The BJP would be taking out four ‘Parivartan Yatras’ from November 5, during which Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to address at least seven party rallies, rounding off the yatras on December 24 in Lucknow. The Congress is embarking on the second phase of the ‘Rahul Sandesh Yatra from November 2 and it would end on November 10.

Yadav family feud: Shivpal Yadav hints at ‘grand alliance’ for UP polls

Pankaj Jaiswal and M Tariq Khan, Hindustan Times,

Lucknow Updated: Oct 26, 2016 23:51 IST

Supporters of UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav outside the Samajwadi Party office in Lucknow. (PTI Photo)

The ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh, which is fighting a bitter family feud, floated on Wednesday the idea of a “mahagathbandhan” or grand alliance of political parties to collectively take on the BJP in next year’s assembly polls.

The proposal has the approval of party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, who had walked out of a similar alliance between the Janata Dal (United) of Nitish Kumar, Lalu Prasad’s Rashtriya Janata Dal and Congress in Bihar ahead of elections there in 2015.

The SP state unit chief, Shivpal Yadav, made the announcement before leaving for New Delhi to invite leaders of JD(U), RJD and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) for the party’s silver jubilee function on November 5 in Lucknow.

Besides the invitation for the event, he is supposed to invite the leaders for a Bihar-type “mahagathbandhan” that defeated the BJP. “Netaji (Mulayam) has authorised me to hold discussions with all Lohiawadi, Charan Singhwadi and Gandhiwadi leaders and bring secular parties on a platform to prevent communal forces from coming to power in UP,” Shivpal said.

The development came on a day chief minister Akhilesh Yadav made a sudden visit to the Raj Bhawan after another of his loyalists — minister of state for forests Pawan Pandey — was sacked from the party.

Raj Bhavan officials termed the visit a courtesy call, which lasted more than 30 minutes, in which the two exchanged Diwali greetings. The chief minister discussed the current political situation with the governor, sources said.

The party expelled Pandey for slapping Ashu Malik, a member of the legislative council and a close aide of party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Shivpal, who is locked in a power tussle with nephew Akhilesh, announced the disciplinary action against Pandey, known to be a staunch supporter of the chief minister.

Any rapprochement between Shivpal and Akhilesh looks unlikely at the moment. The uncle is likely to vacate his official home in Lucknow.

Shivpal said the grand alliance would have taken shape much earlier.

“We would not have won the seventh MLC seat in the bypolls had RLD not voted for our candidate. But now you all know, who thwarted it,” he said, hinting at expelled party general secretary Ramgopal Yadav — a Mulayam cousin and Akhilesh loyalist.

If Mulayam’s alliance idea gains traction, the SP silver jubilee function would be the first show of strength of the proposed “mahagathbandhan”.

UP Congress president Raj Babbar denied getting any invite. But SP sources said invitations have gone out to Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and Sharad Yadav of the JD(U), former prime minister HD Deve Gowda of Janata Dal (Secular), RJD chief Lalu Prasad, who is related to Mulayam, and former Union minister Ajit Singh and his son, Jayant Chaudhary, of the RLD.

Shivpal has been credited with engineering a similar alliance in 2014, comprising the SP, RJD, JD(U), JD(S), Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and Samajwadi Janata Party (Chandra Shekhar). The parties came together after the BJP swept the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

The constituent parties held meetings and joint demonstrations against the Narendra Modi government in New Delhi, but the alliance collapsed ahead of the Bihar polls.