Yadav family feud: Akshay Yadav claims Shivpal conspired against Akhilesh to nurture his CM ambitions

The feud among the Samajwadi Party stakeholders escalated on Monday after another letter purportedly written by Samajwadi Party MP Akshay Yadav was leaked to the media in which he openly expressed his support to chief minister Akhilesh Yadav.

Akshay, a Samajwadi Party MP from Firozabad and the son of Rajya Sabha MP Ram Gopal Yadav also accused his uncle and party stalwart Shivpal Yadav of damaging the party by nurturing his own ambition to become the chief minister of the state. 

The letter came to the fore ahead of the crucial meeting called by party president Mulayam Singh Yadav in Lucknow.

#SamajwadiParty feud: #Akshay Yadav son of #RamGopalYadav writes letter, blames #ShvpalYadav for rift pic.twitter.com/em4ujIVzw8

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"I am hurt with the way my father Ramgopal Yadav was ousted from the party. The charges levelled against me, my wife and my father are baseless", Akshay stated in the letter. 

Watch live updates on Samajwadi Party feud: Still going strong, youth support me, says Mulayam

He further alleged that Shivpal Yadav was against Akhilesh Yadav's chief ministerial candidature after the party won the assembly elections in 2012 and since then he was conspiring against him, Ramgopal and Akhilesh. 

Akshay also alleged that Shivpal also met BJP leaders in July to chalk out a strategy to ensure Samajwadi Party's defeat in the assembly polls. 

In the letter, Akshay expressed is confidence in Akhilesh's leadership saying that the chief minister was not allowed to work freely. 

On Sunday, the ruling Samajwadi Party appeared to be headed for a split as the face-off between Mulayam and Akhilesh worsened. Both of them sacked each others’ loyalists Shivpal Yadav and Ram Gopal Yadav.

While Akhilesh sacked Shivpal, his uncle and party’s state unit chief, along with three “pro-Amar Singh” ministers from his cabinet, his father hit back by dismissing Ramgopal, his cousin and SP’s national general secretary, from the party for six years.

Read | Rebellion is in the air. So is the inevitable split. Will Mulayam ride the cycle into the sunset of Samajwadi Pariwar?