Lucknow: In a setback to Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, his uncle and Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party MLA Shivapl Yadav has announced support for NDA Presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu thereby further widening the rift between the two. Over his snub to the SP chief, Shivpal Yadav 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".
CM Yogi Adityanath invited me where I met NDA's Presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu and decided to vote for her”. On Friday, Shivpal attended a dinner hosted by UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for NDA presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu. His nephew Akhilesh is backing opposition Presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha.
Also read: Shivpal Yadav shoots letter to UP assembly speaker for altering his seating arrangements
Taking a dig at Akhilesh, Shivpal said, “Due to a lack of political maturity in Akhilesh Yadav, Samajwadi Party is becoming weak and several leaders are quitting the party. I am not invited to party meetings. I was not even invited to the meeting with opposition Presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha” Shivpal said. He further said that if Akhilesh Yadav “took my suggestions seriously, the condition of the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh would be completely different."
“Several alliances of SP are now leaving them and the reason is the political immaturity of the SP chief,” he added. The uncle-nephew relations have turned sour of late although Shivpal fought the 2022 UP elections on an SP ticket. In May Shivpal Yadav shot off a letter to UP Assembly Speaker Satish Mahana, urging the latter to change his seat in the House. Apart from Shivpal Yadav, 12 other MLAs have also demanded change in their seating arrangements in the Assembly. With the UP Assembly going hi-tech, the MLAs have been allotted laptops and designated workstations.
