UP CM & Akhilesh Yadav spar over 'uncle' Shivpal's stand; 'His condition is like pendulum'

On Monday, UP CM Yogi Adityanath and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav engaged in a war of words over the flip-flop by Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) president Shivpal Yadav. Despite being miffed with his nephew after the Assembly poll, Yadav extended his support to the SP chief's wife Dimple Yadav who is fighting the Mainpuri by-election. Addressing a rally in support of BJP's Raghuraj Singh Shakya, Adityanath compared him to a pendulum. He chided the PSP(L) chief for backing the SP candidate even though he was humiliated by his nephew in the past. 

Yogi Adityanath quipped, "One day, I was reading a statement by uncle Shivpal. His condition has become like a pendulum. You must have seen a pendulum. Last time, he was humiliated so much. He didn't even get the chair. He had to sit on the chair's handle. In life, you must never become a pendulum. A pendulum has no goal."

Hitting back at the UP CM, Akhilesh Yadav opined, "Our CM said that uncle is a pendulum- sometimes he goes here, sometimes he goes there. He hasn't understood that he is not a pendulum. He will push the CM in the swing so hard that we won't know where he will land! A pendulum works like a swing. That's why don't fall into the trap of BJP leaders. They are liars."

High-stakes election in Mainpuri

The by-election to the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat was necessitated by the demise of SP patriarch and former UP CM Mulayam Singh Yadav. SP has won 8 successive elections from this constituency since 1996. In the previous election, Yadav defeated BJP's Prem Singh Shakya by 94,389 votes. On November 14, Dimple Yadav filed her nomination for this seat. While Akhilesh Yadav's wife represented Kannauj from 2012 till 2019, she suffered a shock defeat to BJP's Subrat Pathak in this seat during the last General election. 

Addressing a press conference, Akhilesh Yadav opined, "It will be a true tribute to Netaji if the people of Mainpuri vote for Samajwadi Party with a majority". As BJP successfully breached SP's citadels of Azamgarh and Rampur Lok Sabha seats recently, it is hoping to do the same in Mainpuri. In Uttar Pradesh, a by-election is also scheduled in the Khatauli and Rampur Assembly seats which were vacated owing to the conviction of BJP's Vikram Singh Saini and senior SP leader Azam Khan respectively. The polling will take place on December 5 whereas the votes shall be counted on December 8.