Lucknow, July 25 (IANS) The Samajwadi Party (SP) national president Akhilesh Yadav convened a meeting of his party MLAs on Tuesday to discuss the prevailing situation in the party. The meet- ing assumed significance since it is being held after the party lost the Lok Sabha by-elections in Azamgarh and Rampur and also the cross-voting by some SP MLAs in the recent presidential polls.
According to sources, Akhilesh has come to know about the five MLA, other than Shivpal Singh Yadav, who had voted in favor of the NDA candidate. “He will not expel them but will tell them to go wherever they please as he has done with Shivpal Yadav. These legislators will then lose their membership if they go anywhere. He will also make it clear to the MLAs that they will have to follow the party discipline if they wish to remain in the SP,” said a party source. The source further said that Akhilesh is keen to make a ‘fresh start’ and pre-pare for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The SP president will be addressing his party MLAs after snapping ties with Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) and showing the door to Shivpal Singh Yadav. On Saturday, Akhilesh issued an ultimatum to Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief Om Prakash Rajbhar and the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party-Lohia (PSP- L) president Shivpal Yadav through two separate letters.
While one letter told Rajbhar that he is free to go to the BJP if he feels that he would get more respect in that party, the other one was addressed to Shivpal, who said that if he thinks he would get more respect somewhere else, then he is free to move there. Soon, both Rajbhar and Shiv- pal Yadav snapped ties with the SP. Rajbhar said at a press conference: “Talaq kabool hai (I accept the divorce)” while Shivpal through a tweet said: “Though I was always free…but thank you for the freedom…” Fissures in the SP alliance began surfacing soon after the loss in 2022.
