UP polls: Shivpal Yadav eager to tie up with SP; sets deadline for nephew Akhilesh

Expressing eagerness to forge an alliance or even merge with Samajwadi Party ahead of the Uttar Pradesh polls, Shivpal Yadav gave his nephew Akhilesh Yadav time till October 11 to take a decision. At present, Shivpal Yadav is the MLA from the Jaswantnagar Assembly constituency from where he has been winning since 1996. Since leaving SP, he has been heading the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia)- a party that he formed on August 29, 2018. 

Speaking to the media on Tuesday, the PSP-L president said, "We have a socialist ideology. I have work shoulder to shoulder with Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav) to establish the Samajwadi Party. I want the party (SP) to become stronger and for that, there should be an alliance of the SP with PSP-L." 

"We are waiting. It's for the UP SP president to take a decision. Our PSP-L organization is strong in the entire state. We will contest all 403 seats (if no alliance materialise with the SP) with full strength and will form the government after winning elections," he added. Moreover, Shivpal Yadav revealed that his party shall commence the 'Samajik Parivartan Yatra' from October 12. Earlier, sources told Republic TV that the SP chief and Shivpal Yadav will share the stage for the celebration of Mulayam Singh Yadav's birthday on November 22 paving the way for rapprochement. 

UP polls

In the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, BJP won a whopping 312 seats in the 403-member House, whereas BSP could win only 19 seats. On the other hand, the SP-Congress alliance failed to bear fruit as it could win in only 54 constituencies. While this was seen as a mandate for PM Modi as BJP had not declared any CM candidate, Gorakhpur MP Yogi Adityanath was a surprise pick for the post. Though some BJP leaders made conflicting statements over Adityanath's future as the Chief Minister, PM Modi put rest to all speculations by lauding UP's governance model during his successive visits to the state.

For the 2022 UP election, Akhilesh Yadav has exuded confidence in winning more than 400 seats owing to the alleged misgovernance of the state government. While he has ruled out forging an alliance with Congress and BSP, the SP president has remained non-committal about an electoral adjustment with his uncle. Speculation about PSP-L becoming a part of the Om Prakash Rajbhar-led  'Bhagidari Sankalp Morcha' also gained traction after Owaisi met Shivpal Yadav on September 21.

(With PTI inputs)