Lucknow: Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav seems to be patching up with his uncle and Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party President Shivpal Yadav as the former chief minister has sought a front seat for his uncle in the assembly. Since Shivpal parted ways with Akhilesh ahead of 2017 assembly polls to form his own party, the relationship between the two has been quite a rollercoaster.
However Akhilesh seems to have buried the hatchet as he has written to Assembly Speaker Satish Mahana demanding to reserve the seat in the front row for uncle Shivpal in the house. It is noteworthy that the monsoon session of the state legislature is set to start from September 19. After parting ways with Akhilesh, Shivpal had stitched an alliance with Akhilesh-led Samajwadi Party ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls earlier this year.
However, the rift resurfaced soon after the election results in which the BJP won with a clear majority. In May, Shivpal had said he compromised on his self-respect to "satisfy him" (Akhilesh) but in return got only "pain". "We taught him how to walk and he went on trampling us", the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party-Lohia (PSPL) chief had said.
Also read: Shivpal Yadav terms Akhilesh remarks 'childish', asks him to expel him
"I tried to satisfy him by going down to the bottom point of self-respect! Despite this, if I am angry...to what extent he must have inflicted pain on my heart!", said the socialist leader without taking anyone's name in his tweet. The differences between both leaders surfaced again when Shivpal Singh Yadav was not invited for a meeting of SP MLAs in March.
Feeling slighted, the senior socialist leader delayed taking oath as legislator. After taking oath, Shivpal Yadav met Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, triggering speculation of his possible crossover to the BJP. In July, in the run up to Presidential elections, Shivapl Yadav had announced support for NDA Presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu thereby further widening the rift with Akhilesh.
Over his snub to the SP chief, Shivpal Yadav had said, “I had already said that I'm going to vote for the one who asks for it. Neither Samajwadi Party called me, nor asked for my vote". Shivpal had also attended a dinner hosted by UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for NDA presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu when Akhilesh backed opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha.
