power tussle in the Samajwadi Party

Akhilesh Yadav

Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav

Mulayam’s brother Shivpal

LUCKNOW: Theintensified on Thursday, with a supporter of, party legislator Udayveer Singh, accusing Mulayam Singh’s second wife of being part of the conspiracy againstand saying the party patriarch needed to make way for his son.Singh, a member of the legislative council, also attacked state SP chief andfor being the “political front” of the CM’s stepmother . He also cautioned Mulayam against the “conspiracies being hatched in his family against his elder son”.The four-page letter of the MLC, who was elected from the SP-stronghold of Etah-Mainpuri, marked a major escalation. It is the the first time that a party functionary has asked Mulayam to make way for his son and suggested that the conflict in the party is linked to a feud in the Yadav clan involving the CM and his stepmother. It states that efforts to discredit Akhilesh began after Mulayam proposed his name for the CM’s post. With a subhead, “Personal jealousy against CM”, a section of the letter reads: “As this information came out in the open that you want Akhilesh to become the CM, conspiracies were hatched within the family. Though Akhilesh’s step-mother herself remained behind the scenes, Shivpal came forward as her political face and started contacting senior party leaders to prevent this.”Udayveer further alleged that Mulayam, under pressure from the anti-Akhilesh group, pulled up the CM several times in full public view. Akhilesh, being an obedient son, did not react, he said.Claiming that “outsiders” have always exploited such family crises, the letter seeks reinstatement of expelled leaders and full power to Akhilesh to run the party, referring to the precedent set by the party earlier. “When you were chief minister, you had the power to take all decisions related to the party. Similarly, you should consider giving full control of the party to Akhilesh Yadavji,” the letter concludes.It also looked set to roil further party’s troubled waters with another MLC Ashu Malik firing a retaliatory salvo against Udayveer.Malik suggested that Udayveer’s letter was as an ”unacceptable” insult to party supremo Mulayam Singh. He said those who were pointing fingers at the SP patriarch were sycophants and will not hesitate to attack Akhilesh Yadav in future for political gains.