Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday announced that he would take out a rath yatra in the state from November 3, PTI reported. The announcement led to speculation on whether Yadav would attend the party’s silver jubilee celebrations in Lucknow on November 5.

In a letter to his father and SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, Akhilesh noted that all other political parties had started their campaign for the upcoming Assembly elections in the state next year. The chief minister noted that while he had originally planned to take out the rath yatra from October 3, “it was cancelled because of some reasons”. Copies of the letter were also sent to state party president Shivpal Singh Yadav and national general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav.

The announcement of the yatra and the speculation over Akhilesh Yadav’s presence at the silver jubilee celebrations is being seen as a protest by the chief minister against Shivpal’s move to sack youth leaders who protested against his appointment as state party chief, according to reports. While both the SP and Shivpal Yadav have endorsed Akhilesh Yadav as the party’s chief ministerial candidate, rumoured infighting within the party has led to the chief minister’s supporters functioning independently from a separate office in Lucknow.

The alleged family feud was triggered by party president Mulayam Singh Yadav appointing Shivpal, his brother and Akhilesh’s uncle, as the state party chief. The move, which was reportedly triggered by fears of an anti-incumbency vote, did not go down well with the chief minister, who then relieved his uncle of major portfolios in the state Cabinet. Mulayam Singh Yadav had to intervene to bring the situation under control.