Ramgopal Yadav expelled from SP

October 23, 2016 05:39 pm | Updated November 17, 2021 06:25 am IST - LUCKNOW:

Pushing the Samajwadi Party to the brink of a split, party general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Ramgopal Yadav was on Sunday expelled from the party for six years. He was sacked on the instructions of SP supremo Mulayam Singh, informed SP State president Shivpal Yadav, who used his discretionary powers hours after he was unceremoniously removed from the Akhilesh Yadav cabinet in a retaliatory action.

Mr. Ramgopal is a cousin of Mr. Mulayam and Mr. Shivpal, and considered to play the role of a “think tank.” He has strongly supported Akhilesh Yadav in the entire fiasco and early on Sunday morning also shot off a letter to party workers endorsing Mr. Akhilesh as the future of the SP.

Mr. Shivpal Yadav levelled serious allegations against Mr. Ramgopal, saying he was working as part of a “conspiracy” in collusion with the BJP to weaken the SP and tarnish the Akhilesh Yadav government’s image. Ramgopal had met thrice with top leaders of the saffron party, Mr. Shivpal said, also accusing his cousin of patronizing and shielding corrupt elements.

Shivpal Yadav said Mr. Ramgopal was trying to save his skin as his son MP Akshay Pratap and daughter-in-law were embroiled in the Yadav Singh corruption case probed by the CBI. “He worked to weaken the party and Netaji,” Mr. Shivpal said, adding that Mr. Akhilesh was unable to pinpoint the real villain. Mr. Shivpal also said that Mr. Ramgopal conspired against him as he had in the past raised voice against his "dictatorial ways" at the party forum. In a revealing claim, Mr. Shivpal also blamed Mr. Ramgopal for the SP’s breakup from the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar election last year.

Talking to a Hindi channel after his expulsion, Mr. Ramgopal said he was not upset over his sacking but saddened by the “false allegations” against him. “I did not expect such statements,” said Mr. Ramgopal, fondly called Professor Sahab by party workers. On his connections with the BJP, Mr. Ramgopal said it was normal for politicians to meet leaders from other parties. He gave example of Prime Minister Narendra Modi visiting Saifai on Mulayam Singh’s invite.

Mr. Ramgopal was sacked hours after Mr. Shivpal Yadav, and three other ministers considered close to him and Mulayam-aide Amar Singh, were sacked from the State cabinet by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. Putting his foot down, an emboldened Akhilesh Yadav dealt a severe blow to his uncle even as he sacked senior ministers Narad Rai and Om Prakash Singh, and MoS Shadab Fatima. Governor Ram Naik promptly gave his sanction to the sackings, which sent the SP into an unprecedented crisis.

Mr. Akhilesh Yadav took the drastic step after a meeting with State MLAs and MLCs at his official residence here. Shivpal Yadav and some MLAs loyal to him were not invited. In a show of strength, over 180 legislators turned up at Mr. Yadav’s call and even signed a resolution expressing “full faith” in the leadership of Akhilesh Yadav, acknowledging that he had fulfilled all promises made to public in the election manifesto. They praised his “spotless and clean-image.”

”I will not break the party at any cost," Mr. Akhilesh Yadav said, reaffirming that his leader was his father. He also said he would get the Lucknow- Agra Expressway, the longest in the country at 302 km, inaugurated by his father on November 21, Mr. Mulayam’s 77th birthday eve. The CM also said he would attend the SP's silver jubilee celebrations scheduled on November 5 and the important meeting called by his father on Monday.

MLAs who attended Mr. Yadav’s meeting said he told them anybody close to Amar Singh had no place in his cabinet.

Earlier in the day, SP general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Ramgopal Yadav wrote a one-page letter to party workers endorsing Mr. Akhilesh as the future of party. In a hurriedly-written note released at 6am and written from Mumbai, Mr. Ramgopal appealed his “dear colleagues” to ensure that a State government was formed under the leadership of his nephew. He said those supporting Akhilesh were “positive” while his detractors were “negative.” A cousin of Mulayam Singh, Mr. Ramgopal also distinguished between those supporting Akhilesh, saying they had “spilled blood for the party and made great sacrifices,” and those in the rival camp, alleging they had “minted crores and misused power.”

Powerful minister Azam Khan has also supported Mr. Akhilesh.

“Those opposing Akhilesh will not be able to see the face of the Vidhan Sabha. The Rath Yatra is the noose in the rival’s neck...Don’t get perturbed, don’t be jolted. Where Akhilesh is, victory follows,” Mr. Ramgopal wrote.

Mr. Shivpal’s sacking comes a day after a close aide of Akhilesh Yadav, MLC Udayveer Singh was expelled from the Samajwadi Party, a few days after he shot off a stinging letter to party boss Mulayam Singh accusing his second wife of hatching a conspiracy against the CM.

Mr. Udayveer Singh had earlier this week also announced that he along with other Akhilesh loyalists would boycott the SP’s silver celebrations on November in protest of the expulsion of many of their colleagues by Mulayam and Shivpal.

Mr. Udayveer Singh was expelled from the SP for six years for indulging in “anti-party activities,” “indiscipline” and “working against the principles and polices” of the party, said Deepak Mishra, SP spokesperson and close aide of Shivpal Yadav.

The resolution against the young MLC was passed unanimously in the party’s state executive meeting held here, where his “objectionable, undignified and derogatory remarks” against the party supremo were “condemned,” Mr. Mishra said. A resident of Firozabad, Mr. Udayveer Singh, an M.Phil degree holder from JNU, is among Akhilesh Yadav’s most trusted men. The two went to the same school in Dholpur. Soon after Mr. Akhilesh Yadav earlier this week announced that he would start the party’s campaign on his own with a rath yatra on November 3, Mr. Udayveer wrote a four-page note to Mulayam Singh alleging that his second wife Sadhna Gupta was conspiring against Akhilesh due to personal envy.

The letter also mentions the use of black magic against Akhilesh Yadav by his step-mother. Though she remained “behind the scenes,” Shivpal Yadav acted as her “political front,” Mr. Udayveer wrote. In the strongly-worded letter, the MLC cited several reasons for the ongoing feud in the family, including wrong advice and feedback to Mulayam about Akhilesh, conspiracy within the family and personal envy against Akhilesh further fermented by outsiders like Amar Singh.

While asking Mulayam to clarify on his political successor, Mr. Udayveer also demanded that Akhilesh Yadav be made the party’s national president so that there was no room for speculations or doubt. He should not just be a face but also needs to be empowered to take political decisions, the MLC argued.

Reacting to his expulsion, Mr. Udayveer said he had no regrets and expressed loyalty to Akhilesh Yadav. “I stand by what I wrote,” he said, adding that he was upset not over his sacking but by the fact that the “truth” was being kept away from Mulayam. Sources said the expulsion had shocked and further confused the SP cadre and leaders in the Akhilesh camp. His sacking comes at a critical time when the SP supremo is trying a fire fight a seemingly unending family feud, involving himself, his younger brother, cousin and son. Last month Mr. Shivpal had dealt a severe blow to Akhilesh after he sacked seven leaders from his core group — three MLCs and four heads of the party organizations — for protesting his promotion as State president. On Saturday, Mr. Shivpal announced the new top office-bearers of the party’s frontal organizations — the Yuvajan Sabha, minority wing, Mulyam Singh Youth brigade and Lohia Vahini. It came a day after Akhilesh Yadav skipped an important strategy meeting of SP district and city unit presidents called by his uncle. Though the CM met the delegates later at his official residence, it did little to diffuse the tension, even as SP old-timers tried to mediate a thaw to the ongoing crisis.

Targeting the SP, BJP state president Keshav Prasad Maurya said there was a “constitutional crisis” in the State and demanded that the Akhilesh Yadav government prove its majority as it had lost trust. “It is not clear who wins in the Chacha-Bhatija fight. But one thing is clear, UP is losing due to it,” Mr. Maurya said.

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