Shivpal Yadav’s surprise meeting with Yogi Adityanath sparks buzz. He fuels it

LUCKNOW: Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party-Lohia (PSP-L) chief Shivpal Singh Yadav took oath as an MLA of the Uttar Pradesh assembly on Wednesday and later met chief minister Yogi Adityanath. The development further fanned speculation about strains in the Samajwadi Party-led opposition alliance. A guessing game about whether Shivpal will move to the BJP followed.

There has been a buzz about Shivpal’s fresh rift with the Samajwadi Party in political circles for the last week. Amid the speculation, Deepak Mishra, a spokesperson for the PSP-L, described Shivpal’s meeting with Yogi as a “courtesy call”.

“Since he (Shivpal) could not meet the Leader of the House after the election, he met him today after taking oath. He also met the speaker of the UP Legislative Assembly,” Mishra said.

He said the two were together at the chief minister’s official residence at 5-Kalidas Marg for about 20 minutes.

Later, when asked by reporters whether he will take any major decision, Shivpal Yadav said, “Very soon, I will talk about everything and tell everything.”

The response was a sharp contrast to Shivpal Yadav refusing to answer questions after he skipped a meeting between Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav and the SP allies in Lucknow on Tuesday (March 29). Asked by reporters, he had then said: “I have nothing to say on the issue. If I want to say something, I will call (the media).”

Shivpal Yadav was sworn in as an MLA amid speculation that he “delayed” the oath-taking to indicate a strained relationship with Akhilesh Yadav.

Shivpal Yadav contested the assembly election from Jaswantnagar in Etawah on the symbol of the Samajwadi Party headed by his nephew Akhilesh Yadav.

After not being on the same page since 2017, Akhilesh Yadav and Shivpal Yadav decided to mend fences just before the recently concluded state assembly elections.

Their estrangement had resulted in Shivpal Yadav launching his own party before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

In the just-concluded assembly polls, both leaders put up a united front, and Shivpal Yadav won his traditional Jaswantnagar seat for the sixth time.

But speculation over their relationship started after Shivpal Yadav was not called to a meeting of SP legislators on March 26, though he contested on the party’s symbol and even campaigned for Akhilesh Yadav in the Karhal assembly constituency in Mainpuri district. Shivpal Yadav had expressed dismay over it.

Samajwadi Party state unit chief Naresh Uttam had said Shivpal Yadav would be invited to the meeting with the allies later. When the meeting of the allies was held, Shivpal did not turn up despite an invitation.

(With PTI inputs)