Lucknow: The Samajwadi Party (SP) on Monday released a list of its 55-member national executive, headed by party chief Akhilesh Yadav, but the name of Mulayam Singh Yadav was missing from it despite signs of a thaw in the frosty father-son relationship.
The list triggered speculation among political circles as to whether the SP patriarch will remain the party patron, especially after the father and son were seen together at a public event in Lucknow last week.
Asked about the post of the SP patron, party spokesperson Rajendra Chowdhury said he was not aware of any such position. “The party constitution does not have any provision for such a post. I am not aware whether he is the patron or not,” he told PTI.
Mulayam Singh Yadav was made the party patron after a bitter feud in the Yadav clan climaxed with his son Akhilesh snatching the mantle of the party president from him at an emergency national convention on 1 January.
Besides Mulayam Singh Yadav, the name of his brother Shivpal Singh Yadav was also missing from the list of national executive members.