Former Uttar Pradesh minister Shivpal Yadav on Sunday said he would not work with chief minister Akhilesh Yadav even if the Samajwadi Party was re-elected in the 2017 state Assembly polls. His statement came on the same day Akhilesh Yadav sacked him from his Cabinet. Shivpal Yadav had earlier resigned from the government after he was stripped of key ministerial posts by Akhilesh Yadav, following party president Mulayam Singh Yadav's decision to make Shivpal Yadav the state chief on September 13.

In an exclusive interview to The Times of India, the state unit chief said the incumbent chief minister had long made up his mind to sack him, and there was no reason behind the decision. “Enough is enough. I have been humiliated and punished for no crime of mine. Akhilesh has hurt me,” Shivpal Yadav said.

The former minister said he had never recommended any work or project of Amar Singh, who had recently rejoined the party and has a strained relationship with Akhilesh Yadav, to the CM. “I have not even spoken to Amar Singh in a week. I have spoken to him just once in the past month. Is that a crime?” he asked. At a meeting on Sunday, Akhilesh had sacked four ministers, including Shivpal Yadav and OP Singh, and said that “whoever is close to Amar Singh cannot be in my Cabinet”. Mulayam Singh Yadav will meet party lawmakers on Monday.

Mahagathbandhan in Uttar Pradesh?

The Indian Express reported that Mulayam Singh Yadav is planning to launch a “mahagathbandhan” (grand alliance), along the lines of the Bihar alliance, for the Uttar Pradesh elections. While Mulayam Singh Yadav reportedly spoke to Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Ajit Singh on Sunday, his brother Shivpal Yadav got in touch with a senior Janata Dal (United) leader on Saturday. The party also spoke to the Congress about a possible poll alliance, according to the newspaper.

“Netaji [Mulayam] ko ab aage aana hi padega. Bina Netaji CM bane, na party bachegi, na government [Netaji will have to come forward. Without Netaji as CM, neither the party will be left, nor the government],” Shivpal Yadav purportedly said. On Sunday, he had said that the party will fight the upcoming elections under the leadership of the 77-year-old Mulayam Singh Yadav.

"The CM should resign"

The feud in the Samajwadi Party and Yadav family has presented the Opposition Bharatiya Janta Party with an opportunity to attack the state government in the run up to the polls. State BJP chief Keshav Prasad Maurya said, “CM Akhilesh Yadav should resign or prove his majority on the floor of the Assembly. His government has been reduced to minority and he should not take any policy decision.”

The saffron party said the people of the state were losing out because of the political crisis. BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma said, “The ongoing theatrics within SP is an exercise of shrouding their sins. The party has become a sinking ship which has failed on every front. Mafia raj is prevailing…Akhilesh could not fulfil promises.”

“Where Akhilesh is, victory follows.”

Before Sunday’s meeting called by the chief minister, party general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav said that being with Akhilesh meant being on the winning side. "Those who oppose Akhilesh won't be able to show their faces in the legislative assembly. Where Akhilesh is, victory follows," he said in a letter to party workers. Ram Gopal Yadav told party members to support the chief minister and make his November 3 rath yatra a success.

On Saturday, Mulayam Singh Yadav had suspended Ram Gopal Yadav, along with party legislator Udayveer Singh for six years. Singh had written a letter to the SP president in which he accused Akhilesh Yadav’s stepmother Sadhna and uncle Shivpal Yadav of practising black magic on Akhilesh. However, hours after Singh’s letter was made public, Shivpal endorsed Akhilesh as the party’s CM candidate.

The feud

Rumours are rife that the infighting within the party in the run-up to state Assembly elections next year 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, the state party chief. The move, which was reportedly implemented because of 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 Cabinet. Mulayam Singh Yadav had to intervene to bring the situation under control.