Etawah: Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Yadav on Wednesday responded to SP chief Akhilesh Yadav's remarks that "why the BJP was delaying his induction", Shivpal termed the statement as 'irresponsible and childish'. He further added that, if Akhilesh wanted him to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) then he should expel him from the party.
"It's an irresponsible and childish statement. I'm one of 111 MLAs of SP who won in recent assembly elections. If he wants to send me to BJP, then he should expel me from the party," said Shivpal Yadav.
Shivpal, who is also uncle to Akhilesh further alleged his own party for not making any efforts for the party's senior leader Azam Khan, who is currently lodged in jail. Azam Khan is a 10-time and the senior-most MLA in the party. He remained a member of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. If the Samajwadi Party had staged a protest in Lok Sabha demanding the release of Azam Khan, then PM Modi had certainly have given some thought to it. But nothing like this seems to happen.
When asked about his next move by reporters, the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party chief said that "as of now, there was no decision on it, When the right time comes, I will definitely tell everyone about it,” he said.
Shivpal won the recent assembly polls from Jaswantnagar on an SP ticket after he joined the SP before the elections heeding to call of Akhilesh Yadav to oust the BJP government led by Yogi Adityanath. But their plans went awry as the BJP romped home with a huge margin.
The rift between Shivpal and Akhilesh came out in the open soon after the first meeting of SP leaders after losing the polls. Akhilesh Yadav called a meeting in which he was declared party leader, but Shivpal Yadav was not invited to the meeting. Shivpal was not happy about it. "I am an MLA from Samajwadi Party but still not invited. I will return to Etawah," he had said.
Last month, Shivpal met chief minister Yogi Adityanath and also went to meet Azam Khan in jail, leading the speculations of him joining the BJP
Read: Shivpal meets Azam Khan in jail, says nephew's SP ignored party veteran
