Making his first appearance at an election rally, Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav on Thursday sought votes for his son Akhilesh Yadav, promising that his party will fulfil the aspirations of the people.
The BJP is leaning on Yogi's 'batenge to katenge' theme to weave a unifying narrative that transcends caste and communal lines.
The BJP, which won the Samajwadi Party strongholds of Rampur and Azamgarh in 2022 bypolls, hopes to wrest Mainpuri too.
On Friday, April 19, 2024, Aditi Yadav, Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav and Dimple Yadav's elder daughter, campaigned for her mother, the party's candidate from Mainpuri, Uttar Pradesh.
Akhilesh Yadav hit back, saying no one had any clue that the alliance was coming apart and that he had dialled the BSP chief to know why the tie-up ended.
Yadav said she initially felt like Eklavya in the BJP family but now (with this responsibility) she hopes to work like Arjuna.
A photograph of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat sitting with Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav has set tongues wagging in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, with the Congress taunting that the S in SP means the Sangh.
'There is no question of any division whatsoever in the party.' 'Akhilesh will be the next chief minister, there is no doubt about that,' Mulayam tells ANI.
Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav's daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday.
No-show against Sonia has payback in Delhi, SP tells followers.
Mulayam Singh and Mayawati fell out after their ruling coalition in Uttar Pradesh crashed in 1995, two years after they came together along with smaller parties to keep the Bharatiya Janata Party out of power.
Samajwadi Party founder and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav's younger daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav, who contributed Rs 11 lakh to the Ram Temple fund, has refused to 'take responsibility for her family's past actions'.
'Akhileshji has to protect his political turf and if it means confronting his father, snapping ties with him and forming another party, so be it.'
Akhilesh's fielding candidates from a broad spectrum of castes, not just Yadavs, and with the BJP losing in several seats in Purvanchal, suggests that smaller OBC communities shifted from the BJP to the SP in the region.
Electoral setbacks and thwarted ambition can have an unpredictable effect on leaders,, observes Aditi Phadnis.
Mulayam will submit his resignation to the governor soon.
Mulayam said the new chief minister will be chosen by the Samajwadi Party.
SP veteran Mulayam Singh Yadav claimed that there was "no discord".
Insiders said Akhilesh's warring uncle Shivpal Yadav and Rajya Sabha member Amar Singh were not present at father-son meeting.
The rift between Samajwadi Party strongman Mulayam Singh Yadav and 'obedient' Akhilesh grew even wider with the father openly backing his son's foes in the party
Mulayam said his son had promised to leave the post of party president after staying at the helm for three months, but he did not do so.
The Samajwadi Party released its list of 40 star campaigners in which there was no mention of Mulayam Singh Yadav.
The SP workers' confusion began last month when Prateek Yadav's wife participated in a function organised by Shivpal Yadav and expressed her support for him.
After staying away from campaigning till now, Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav on Saturday addressed his first rally where he sought votes for brother Shivpal, saying the election is important for both of them.
Mulayam Singh Yadav wrote to Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari informing him about the expulsion of Ramgopal Yadav.
Udayveer Singh, a first time Member of Legislative Council, wrote a 'private letter' to Mulayam Singh Yadav but it has now found its way into the media.
In an apparent reference to Ramgopal, Mulayam Singh said "one person has influenced his son" which has led to "problems in the party".
Amid the raging feud in Mulayam Singh Yadav's family, Samajwadi Party leader Ramgopal Yadav on Thursday said the leadership had committed a "mistake" by removing Akhilesh Yadav as party's UP president and that "differences" had arisen due to some "misunderstanding".
Shivpal Yadav said that his Mulayam will head the new party.
Mulayam announced that sacked minister Gayatri Prajapati will be taken back in the UP cabinet.
Mulyama's remarks came against the backdrop of marathon meetings Congress' poll strategist Prashant Kishor had with him in Delhi and Lucknow.
How he hopes to retain his fort is anyone's guess, says Nazarwala, the man who called right the 2007 and 2012 UP elections.
Leaders from across the political spectrum criss-crossed the entire state to woo the voters but Mulayam mostly kept indoors.
Among the bigwigs are Union ministers Amit Shah (Gandhinagar), Jyotiraditya Scindia (Guna), Mansukh Mandaviya (Porbandar), Parshottam Rupala (Rajkot), Pralhad Joshi (Dharwad) and SP Singh Baghel (Agra).
'You have been appointed general secretary of Samajwadi Party. I hope in the coming days you will strengthen the party in Uttar Pradesh assembly elections,' Mulayam said in a handwritten letter to Amar.
Ruling alliance members heartily cheered Yadav with chants of 'Jai Shri Ram'.
"I appeal to the party members to stand with Netaji Mulayam Singh. Whatever is happening is very unfortunate," he said.
Mulayam on Sunday blamed the defeat on son Akhilesh's decision to ally with a Congress, which he said had tried its best to "ruin" him.
"There is no matbhed (difference) or manbhed (ill feelings) among our leaders," Yadav said.
Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav and Congress president Sonia Gandhi may be poles apart on most counts, but they seem to be acting in a strikingly similar manner when it comes to fixing responsibility for the debacle of their respective parties in the recently concluded LokSabha poll. Sharat Pradhan reports
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