Last minute patch-up in SP; Mulayam revokes Akhilesh, Ram Gopal's expulsion

After a massive show of strength by Akhilesh Yadav, who was expelled from SP by father Mulayam Singh Yadav, the party supremo on Saturday backed down revoking with immediate effect the expulsion orders of his son and brother Ramgopal.

After hectic confabulations involving Akhilesh Yadav’s warring uncle Shivpal Yadav, Mulayam and the Chief Minister, Shivpal tweeted that on the SP supremo’s directive, expulsion of Akhilesh and Ramgopal Yadav from SP was being revoked with immediate effect.

“I am coming after having met party chief Mulayam Singh along with CM Akhilesh Yadav. Netaji has given the order that the suspension orders of Akhilesh and Ram Gopal are terminated with immediate effect,” Shivpal said.

Read | Yadav family feud: Akhilesh may be back in Samajwadi Party but will not return to power, says BJP

“All of us together will fight communal forces and we will once again form a SP government in UP with full majority.  These are my orders. We will hold discussions within ourselves and decide, and prepare for the upcoming elections,” he said.

“All matters have been solved and we will fight the upcoming polls together. We will all sit togther with Netaji and I am sure all problems will be resolved,” he said.

On a day of fast-paced developments, Akhilesh earlier in the day convened a meeting of SP legislators where over 200 of the 229 party MLAs turned up expressing their loyalty with the chief minister, a day after he was expelled from the party for indulging in “indiscipline”, pushing the ruling party to the precipice of a vertical split.

Some SP MLCs and senior party functionaries loyal to Akhilesh also attended the meeting at the chief minister’s official residence at 5-Kalidas Marg.

Read | Supporters of CM Akhilesh, Ram Gopal Yadav celebrate their 'ghar wapasi' within 24hrs

Senior SP leader and UP cabinet minister Azam Khan then arrived at the CM’s residence and after a brief stay, they drove to Mulayam’s bungalow at a stone’s throw distance. 

Earlier outside the chief minister’s residence, high drama was witnessed with youth supporters of Akhilesh assembling in large numbers to vent their fury over his expulsion and that of his uncle Ramgopal Yadav.

Akhilesh supporters tried to break the cordon outside the CM’s residence and clashed with police.Akhilesh loyalists also exchanged blows with supporters of SP state unit chief Shivpal Yadav outside party headquarters in the high security VIP zone where heavy police deployment made the entire place look like a battle zone.

As the embattled Samajwadi Party faced its worst ever crisis, RJD supremo Lalu Prasad sought to bring the warring groups together by speaking to Mulayam to broker peace.

Lalu telephoned Mulayam, who happens to be his relative too, to ensure that the fighting leaders should bury their hatchet in the larger interest of the party.

Read | SP feud: Amar Singh supports Mulayam Singh Yadav, terms the crisis as unfortunate

Mulayam had yesterday expelled his son Akhilesh and Ramgopal from SP for six years after they put up candidates against the official nominees and summoned a party meet tomorrow, pushing the ruling party to the precipice of a split just ahead of the UP Assembly elections likely to be announced any day now.

Mulayam had said he took the action against Akhilesh and Ramgopal to save the party which he had built through hard efforts.

“We have to save the party. The party comes first. That is why we are expelling both Akhilesh and Ramgopal,” he said.

He explained that the decision was taken after Ramgopal, in his capacity as general secretary, called an emergency meeting of the party on January 1 and Akhilesh “supported” it.