Shivpal Yadav hails SP win in UP bypolls, triggers speculation about patch-up with Akhilesh

Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Yadav, who is also the uncle of party president Akhilesh Yadav, on Thursday hailed the SP’s recent victory in Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha bypolls as “historic,” triggering speculation about a possible rapprochement with his estranged nephew.

In a tweet, Shivpal said: “May this beautiful story proves a milestone”.

Without naming Akhilesh with whom he has had a bitter relationship in the past, Shivpal attributed the victory to the “able leadership” of the party.

Shivpal, was on a tour to Mauritius and on his return to Lucknow, he tweeted: “I congratulate the people of Phulpur and Gorakhpur, the able leadership of the Samajwadi Party, its workers, and the winning candidates. With the dual sync of hard work and social justice, I wish this beautiful story proves to be a milestone”.

Shivpal’s tweet set off a fresh round of speculation that there could be a patch up between the uncle and his nephew and that he could vote for the Rajya Sabha candidates of the SP and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on March 23.

Shivpal’s loyalties have been a matter of speculation since his camp members allegedly paved way for the election of chief minister Yogi Adityanath and deputy chief minister Keshav Maurya and others to the Vidhan Parishad by voting for the BJP.

The Shivpal camp also voted for Ram Nath Kovind, the presidential candidate of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), going against the party whip of voting for the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) candidate Meira Kumar.

Shivpal’s camp had been giving feelers that it might support the extra candidate of the BJP instead of the BSP candidate in the Rajya Sabha elections.

Relationship between Shivpal and Akhilesh strained after a feud broke out in the family in August 2016 over the control of the party. Eventually, Akhilesh won the battle for supremacy, replacing his father Mulayam Singh as the party president.