As it happened: Mulayam defends Amar, Shivpal; Samajwadi meet ends in acrimony

M Tariq Khan & Pankaj Jaiswal, Hindustan Times, Lucknow

Updated: Oct 25, 2016 00:50 IST

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav addresses a press conference at the party office in Lucknow on Friday. PTI Photo by Nand Kumar  (PTI)

Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav said on Monday he is saddened by the rift in the family and seemed to back his brother and Uttar Pradesh unit chief Shivpal Yadav over his son and chief minister Akhilesh Yadav in a bitter power tussle that has threatened to split the party ahead of the 2017 assembly polls.

“I will never forget the work Shivpal has done for me and the Samajwadi Party. He has done a lot for the party and Amar Singh helped me in tough times,” Mulayam said during a party meeting.

Here are the highlights:

7:17pm: Shivpal Yadav meets CM Akhilesh Yadav at CM residence in Lucknow

5:55pm: SP state president Shivpal Yadav sacks 10 more supporters of CM Akhilesh Yadav

1.03pm: Akhilesh and Shivpal hug each other after Mulayam asks them to

1pm: Mulayam: After getting the post of CM, power has gone to Akhilesh’s head

One who cannot think big, cannot become a big leader. One who cannot tolerate dissent and suffer criticism, cannot become a big leader

12.50pm: Mulayam: Akhilesh will never disobey me and Shivpal will do as I say

12.30pm: Mulayam: Akhilesh will not be removed as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh

12.05pm: Mulayam: I made the party. The young brigade thinks they are goons but actually I am the bigger goon

11.55am: Mulayam: I could’ve become the PM if I wanted to. But what is the point? I didn’t compromise on principles

We should remove our weakness and not fight with each other

11.50am: Mulayam: Drunkards, goons have been added to the party. You get some power and it goes to your head. Shivpal Yadav is leader of the masses

11.45am: Mulayam: I will never forget the work Shivpal has done for me and Samajwadi Party

Shivpal has done a lot for the party and Amar Singh has helped me in tough times

11.40am: Mulayam: Some ministers are just busy being sycophants. And people who can’t think big can’t be a minister

11.25am: Mulayam: I am hurt by this rift in the family

11.20pm: Shivpal: Some sycophants and vested interests are trying to harm the party

Akhilesh had told me that he would form a new party and contest the upcoming polls

11.15pm: Akhilesh: I know all that Shivpal has told you about me

11.10pm: Shivpal: People who work to weaken SP, who work against us...they should know we will form Govt again with Netaji’s sweat and blood

11.05pm: Akhilesh: A conspiracy is being hatched against me. But I will resign if Netaji (Mulayam) asks me to step down as CM

11pm: Akhilesh urges workers to make party silver jubilee function a success

10.50pm: Akhilesh Yadav breaks down during the meeting, says he won’t be floating a new party

10.40pm: Shivpal Yadav says that those clashing with his supporters are goons sent by Akhilesh Yadav and not Samajwadi Party workers.

10.30pm: Outside the party headquarters in Lucknow, supporters of Akhilesh Yadav and Shivpal Yadav clash

10.10am: Ramgopal Yadav’s son Akshay writes a letter saying he is hurt by the way his father was ousted from the party by Shivpal Yadav.

10pm: Hundreds of workers have gathered outside the party office with both factions shouting slogans against each other. Many were seen trying to enter the premises but were pushed back by a ring of policemen

With only a few months to go for the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, the state’s ruling party is locked in a fierce family power tussle.

Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav is fighting to tamp down a feud between his son and chief minister Akhilesh, and his brother and state chief Shivpal after a slew of tit-for-tat removals.

On Sunday morning, Akhilesh Yadav threw out his uncle Shivpal and three other “pro-Amar Singh” ministers from his team. By evening, Mulayam had dismissed his cousin and SP general secretary Ramgopal Yadav, who had backed Akhilesh in the family feud, from the party for six years.

The crisis couldn’t have come at a worse time for the SP as it battles anti-incumbency, resurgent opposition parties and concerns over deteriorating law and order just months before the state polls.

This was the second time in a month that Akhilesh had acted against Shivpal. Earlier, he had stripped Shivpal of his portfolios but gave them back after Mulayam managed an uneasy truce between his feuding son and brother. But, the peace plan now lays in tatters.