Shivpal, DP Yadav joinhands to unite Yadavs

LUCKNOW: In what is being seen as an attempt to dent the Yadav vote bank of Samajwadi Party, Akhilesh Yadav’s estranged uncle Shivpal Yadav on Thursday joined hands with former MP DP Yadav and formally launched 'Yadukul Punarjagran Mission’.
The front is being seen as an attempt to bring together smaller Yadav community leaders on one platform ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
PSP-L leaders dropped broad hints that the YPM will also reach out to the disgruntled leaders in the SP and those who were feeling sidelined in the party and do not see any significant role for themselves in the near future. “We will certainly welcome anyone who is feeling neglected in his present role,” said a senior PSP-L leader.
Addressing a press conference at the PSP-L headquarters in Lucknow where he was joined by DP Yadav and a host of other lesser-known Yadav community leaders, Shivpal showcased 'Yadukul Punarjagran Mission’ (YPM) as an initiative “to bring together all neglected Backwards (read Yadavs) under one umbrella. Shivpal said the YPM was neither aimed to hit or favour any particular political entity.
Shivpal said the YPM will start a movement for social justice by bringing all like-minded people on one platform. "Today, people from upper castes as well as the backwards, are troubled. This outfit is not against anyone. We only want to work for those who have been marginalised and we are starting from scratch to build up the organisation," he said. “We will address issues that are troubling the backward castes (read Yadavs) and will also demand an 'Ahir Regiment' so that our youth can serve the Army," Shivpal, who has been named as the patron of YPM, said. DP Yadav will be the state president of the front. Shivpal, despite being a sitting SP MLA, has parted ways with nephew Akhiklesh Yadav and is now making efforts to strengthen his own outfit – Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party, Lohia (PSP-L).
DP Yadav, too, has been unhappy with Akhilesh ever since the latter refused to join hands with his outfit – Rashtriya Parivartan Dal – in the run up to the 2012 assembly polls citing his checkered past as a reason.