Akhilesh Yadav Reinstates 4 District Presidents of SP Who Were Sacked by Shivpal

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday reinstated four district presidents of the party who were sacked by his uncle and party leader Shivpal Yadav.

"As per the directions of Akhilesh Yadav, party President Naresh Uttam Patel reinstated Ram Iqbal Yadav (Deoria), Ram Abadh Yadav (Kushinagar), Hawaldar Yadav (Azamgarh) and Ashish Yadav (Mirzapur) and directed them to ensure strengthening of the party", an official release issued by Akhilesh faction said.

The presidents in these districts were removed by Shivpal Yadav, who is state president of another faction of SP supported by Mulayam Singh Yadav.

After restoring them to their position, these office bearers were asked to work in favour of the party and ensure victory of party candidates.

Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on January 1 removed Shivpal Yadav as SP’s Uttar Pradesh unit chief and appointed MLC Naresh Uttam in his place, soon after being anointed its “president” at a disputed national convention.

Soon after Uttam’s appointment, Akhilesh supporters took control of the party office and removed Shivpal’s nameplate outside his room, despite a heavy deployment of police personnel outside the office this morning.

Hopes of truce after days of crisis in the warring Samajwadi Party remained grim on Tuesday despite a last minute effort to broker peace between the factions led by Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son Akhilesh amid a battle over the party's symbol, the cycle.

On his return from New Delhi, a day after he claimed his right over the party before the Election Commission, SP chief Mulayam Singh was closeted with his son at his residence for more than three hours.

Party veterans had hoped that the two sides would shake hands, two days after the son dethroned his father as the President of the ruling party in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh.

But they stuck to their guns, a party source said in Lucknow.

In middle of the meeting, Mulayam Singh called his younger brother Shivpal Singh Yadav and the meeting concluded without making much headway, the source said.

The source said conditions for the "peace deal" deliberated upon by the first family were the return of Mulayam Singh as the party chief but with a new nomenclature - founder President.

Akhilesh Yadav would, however, hold sway over the decision making process of ticket distribution for the assembly polls due this year.

It was also proposed that Shivpal Yadav, one of the nagging problems between the father and son, would be given a "larger role" nationally.

Akhilesh Yadav reportedly stuck to his non-negotiable demands.

Mulayam Singh was not ready for the "package" and soon it became evident that hopes of peace had dashed.

Earlier, state Urban Development Minister Azam Khan went to Delhi to meet Mulayam Singh but was snubbed as the Yadav chiefian left for Lucknow in a chartered plane.

Ram Gopal Yadav, who has stood firmly behind the Chief Minister and is considered the mentor of the Akhilesh camp, also made it clear that chances of rapprochement were very dim.