Mulayam cancels dinner after Akhilesh elected leader of both houses

Luckow : It’s all over for Samajwadi Party's patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav. The infighting of Yadavs is still on. The SP founder had called all the 47 newly-elected MLA for dinner but latter cancelled it after his son Akhilesh Yadav was elected to lead the party in both state's legislative assembly and legislative council.

Shivpal Yadav, who won from the Jaswantnagar constituency, skipped the meeting called to elect Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday. Senior leader and former minister Azam Khan, who has made multiple efforts to broker peace between father and son, was also absent.

According to sources, Shivpal Yadav was not invited and Azam Khan is upset at not being picked to be Leader of Opposition in the state assembly.

Mulayam Singh Yadav, was the party's chief till January, when son Akhilesh staged a coup and wrested control of the party from his father and his younger brother Shivpal Yadav.

Akhilesh Yadav, was Chief Minister till his party's rout in the UP elections earlier this month. The BJP thumped the SP and BSP bagging 325 of the 403 seats in the UP assembly along with its allies. The SP managed only 47 seats and BSP was squeezed to 19.  

 

Many in the Samajwadi Party say that the bitter feud that saw Mulayam Singh Yadav being sidelined by his son just before the election led to the party's poor performance.