New Delhi: Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Yadav has stirred up a political storm by asking voters to make BJP win by a huge margin, moments after senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury asked people to vote for BJP instead of TMC in West Bengal. In the purported video that is doing the rounds on X, Shivpal is heard saying, “We have to tell to Akhilesh Yadav that on May 7, we have to ensure that BJP wins by a huge margin and we have to ensure BJP's win because you have faced a lot of hurdles in the past.” In the same video, he is also heard saying, “I would like to tell the people of Jaswantnagar to give such an injection to these Bharatiya Janata Party members that their screams reach Delhi.”

One of the founding members of SP and Mulayam's most trusted aide, Shivpal often started falling out of favour with Akhliesh. The first signs of fissure was visible back in the 2012 Assembly elections when Shivpal was reluctant to back Mulayam's decision to make Akhilesh Uttar Pradesh's Chief Minister. Backed by Ramgopal, Akhilesh made it to the top, even after Shivpal's reluctance.

From Revenue to Public Works, Shivpal shared key portfolios under Akhilesh. However, Shivpal's difference with Akhilesh and Mulayam came to the fore when in 2014, Aditya was sidelined and instead Ramgopal's son Akshay was fielded from Firozabad Lok Sabha constituency.

Once again Akhilesh came in Shivpal's way when the later mediated a merger of late Mukhtar Ansari-led Quami Ekta Dal with SP. The merger never happened. Akhilesh taking over the reigns of the party, which Shivpal once co-founded with his brother Mulayam, served as the final straw. It is to be remembered that senior BJP leader and Uttar Pradesh's Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya was offered Shivpal to merge his newly formed party with BJP back in 2018. Five years after parting ways with Akhilesh's party and floating PSP-L, Shivpal returned back to the SP fold in 2022. 

The Jaswantnagar MLA had unsuccessfully contested from Firozabad from Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party-Lohia (PSP-L) in the last elections. Shivpal's son Aditya is one of the five family members of Mulayam Singh Yadav who is in fray for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls from UP amid growing row over 'parivaarvad'.