New Delhi: The Samajwadi Party (SP) plunged into chaos after its chief Mulayam Singh Yadav dramatically expelled son and chief minister Akhilesh Yadav from the party for six years on Friday.

It also jeopardises the future of the SP government, with Akhilesh Yadav no longer a member of the party. The CM bought himself some time by announcing that he would decide the future course of action after meeting party legislators on Saturday morning.

The bizarre twist to the intra-party fight—coming as it does just before elections to the state assembly--can potentially derail SP’s electoral strategy and also roil politics of Uttar Pradesh. A substantially weakened SP, in a three-cornered contest with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), could have unexpected consequences on political equations.

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The announcement on Friday came after months of internal strife in the party. The expulsion of both Akhilesh Yadav and his close aide Ram Gopal Yadav from the party, was made by Mulayam Singh Yadav in the presence of his brother and SP’s state president, Shivpal Yadav.

Friday’s development could also nix moves by a section of the SP led by Akhilesh Yadav to stitch up an alliance with the Congress.

“Ram Gopal Yadav’s actions amount to grave indiscipline and have weakened the party. The party cannot work on his whims and fancies. Thus he is being expelled from SP for 6 years...He is misleading the chief minister and has ended his political future," Mulayam Singh Yadav said without mincing any words.

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“The chief minister does not understand this but Ram Gopal has made the CM controversial. Even Akhilesh is a part of this conspiracy. When candidates have been announced, what is the need to announce your own list? Both are responsible for harming the party’s interests. Hence, even the CM is being expelled from the party for six years," he added.

Interestingly, the announcement of a show cause notice over indiscipline to both Akhilesh Yadav and Ram Gopal Yadav and their subsequent expulsion happened at the same press conference. This has led to many calling the expulsion unconstitutional.

Prospects of a split in the SP were building up in the last one week as both factions sparred over ticket distribution. Earlier in the day, Akhilesh Yadav had called a meeting with supporters on 1 January at his residence; Mulayam Singh Yadav summoned a meeting of candidates declared for the UP Assembly elections on 31 December at the party office in Lucknow.

“The entire country knows who is not letting the CM work. I barely travel to Lucknow. The entire proceedings today are unconstitutional and on false grounds. Correct procedure has not been followed. I have not even been given an opportunity to respond to the notice," Ram Gopal Yadav said while responding to Mulayam Singh’s charges.

“There is no chance of a compromise now. Moreover, it is better for Akhilesh to resign and show his political acumen as his governance has resonated well with the people.... Friday’ development could end up helping BJP the most as a split in SP would mean division of the Muslim vote. This is almost like presenting the BJP victory on a platter," said S.K Dwivedi, a Lucknow-based political analyst.

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