Samajwadi President Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday said he will be working to join hands with his uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav on the birthday of party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav later this month.
Mr. Akhilesh Yadav said he will give all respect to his uncle with whose party he will enter into an alliance for the upcoming elections.
Leaving for Saifai, his native village, to celebrate Deepavali, he told media that "on Netaji's birthday” the party “will work to bring Uncle Shivpal Singh along." Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav’s birthday comes on November 22.
Speaking to media days ahead of the occasion, Mr. Akhilesh Yadav said, "We have full respect for him (Mr. Shivpal Singh) and we will have an alliance." "To defeat the BJP in the upcoming assembly elections in the State, we will have an alliance with the regional parties of the State and will work to bring small political parties together.
"Some parties have already come with us, one among them is Rajbhar ji's party (SBSP led by Om Prakash Rajbhar). It is natural that my uncle also has a party and he will be given full respect and we will have an alliance with his party also." This is the first indication of a rapprochement in the first family of the Samajwadi Party since Mr. Shivpal Singh’s leaving it in 2018.
Mr. Akhilesh Yadav said there will be an alliance with his uncle's party and not a merger, when asked about the nature of their pact.
There was a falling out between the nephew and uncle in 2017.
Allegedly upset over his diminishing stature in the party, Mr. Shivpal Singh had broken away and floated a new party altogether in 2018 and called it Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party-Lohia.
The souring of their relation was exacerbated with Mr. Akhilesh Yadav’s taking over the reins of the party in 2017.
Mr. Shivpal Singh is an MLA from Jaswantnagar seat in Etawah.
The SP supremo, Mulayam Singh Yadav, is yet to talk about details of the proposed alliance and seat-sharing with his younger brother.
Mr. Shivpal Singh has also on several occasions expressed keenness to join hands with his nephew saying he has been waiting for his response.
Samajwadi Party suffered big losses in the 2017 assembly polls, slipping to 47 from 224 seats in 2012.
The family feud that began to show in 2016-17 has been attributed to be one of the causes of the party’s bad showing at the hustings.
An old hand in politics, Mr. Shivpal Singh, along with Mr. Mulayam Singh, is considered to have played an important role in strengthening the Samajwadi Party since its early days.