Cycle Gets Wobbly

BJP may support Shivpal Yadav’s new outfit to weaken the Samajwadi Party and thereby the grand alliance.

- Ajay Uprety

ON MAY 5 last year, Shivpal Yadav, Samajwadi Party leader and younger brother of party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, announced the formation of a new front, saying that he felt sidelined. Mulayam then managed to talk his brother out of the decision, promising him a respectable position in the party.

After waiting for more than a year, Shivpal launched the Samajwadi Secular Front on August 29, which he said would accommodate the disgruntled elements of the Samajwadi Party. The decision came after Mulayam himself conceded that he was no longer in control of the party. Speaking at the birthday celebration of veteran Samajwadi Party leader Bhagwati Singh, Mulayam said the young turks no longer respected him. “They will respect me probably when I am no more,”he said. “[Ram Manohar] Lohiaji had once said that in our country, people were respected more after their death.”

With Mulayam’s son Akhilesh firmly in control of the party, Shivpal has chosen to move out. “For a long time, I have not been given any work, not invited to party meetings or consulted on important decisions,” said Shivpal. “I had no alternative, but to float a new party.”