As it happened: Akhilesh Yadav expelled from SP, loyalists kick up protests

Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav expelled on Friday Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and general secretary Ramgopal Yadav from the party for six years over alleged indiscipline.

Mulayam’s shock move came a day after Akhilesh, his son, finalised a list of 235 candidates for the upcoming assembly polls in defiance with the party, which had announced its own picks and snubbed some leaders considered close to the CM.

More live updates here:

11pm: Samajwadi Party warns members and leaders to stay away from “emergency national convention” called by Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday

10:54pm: Samajwadi Party spokesperson Juhi Singh resigns from the post: ANI

10:50pm: Hundreds of SP workers put up road blocks at several places in Auraiya. Workers block roads in Etawah too, shout slogans against Shivpal Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav

10:13pm: More than 10 office bearers of the party resigned in Kanpur. In Kannauj, more than 100 village party representatives resigned in protest against Akhilesh Yadav’s expulsion from the party

10pm: Supporters start leaving 5 Kali Das Marg where the official residence of chief minister

9:45pm: Akhilesh supporters burn effigies of SP state president Shivpal Yadav in Badaun and Shahjahanpur city. Some of them have left for Lucknow.

9:40pm: Shahjahanpur district president Tanvir Khan, am Akhilesh loyalist, quit the party along with over 200.

9:09pm: CM to meet his supporters tomorrow at 12 noon after meeting with MLAs at 9 am

9:06pm: Akhilesh leaves his office on 5 Kalidas Marg from the rear gate

9pm: More details on the two Shivpal supporters Akhilesh dropped: UP CM replaced senior minister Manpal Singh Verma, the MLA from Kasganj, with Ishrat Ullah Khan. On Karhal seat (Mainpuri), Akhilesh dropped sitting MLA and senior party leader Sovaran Singh Yadav and fielded his nephew, Anshul Yadav. For Patiyali seat (Kasganj), Akhilesh gave ticket to Kiran Yadav. Jogendra Singh Yadav gets Etah seat candidature

8:59pm: People being asked to make way for the chief minister’s cavalcade as Akhilesh Yadav wants to leave his office. However, supporters have blocked the way

8:58pm: UP CM Akhilesh Yadav directs DGP Jawed Ahmad to ensure adequate security outside Mulayam Singh Yadav and Shivpal Yadav’s residence: ANI

Read| UP CM Akhilesh expelled: With his final play, Mulayam Singh squanders his legacy

8:40pm: Akhilesh Yadav loyalists burn images of Amar Singh and Shivpal Yadav in Varanasi in protest of his expulsion from the party

8:35pm: SP leader Rahul Singh, who attempted suicide, rushed to hospital. Director general of police (DGP) Jawed Ahmad also reaches chief minister’s residence

8:31pm: UP governor Ram Naik says he’s keeping a close eye on the situation in Lucknow, but says developments are an internal matter of the Samajwadi Party

8:30pm: Akhilesh Yadav drops two Shivpal Yadav supporters from his list of candidates and announces tickets on two more seats

Read| Mulayam should explain why he imposed Akhilesh on UP after 2012 election: BJP

8:27pm: SP leader Rahul Singh attempts suicide by pouring kerosene on himself in front of the chief minister’s residence. Singh was seeking a ticket from Lucknow East

8:23pm: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav calls for a meeting with all party MLAs at 9 am on December 31: ANI

8:15pm: As crowds continues to throng outside the UP chief minister’s residence, small scuffles break out

8pm: Police deployed around Akhilesh Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav’s residences: TV reports

Read| Mamata silent on Yadav family feud, says BJP should not get a single vote in UP

7:54pm: Upset supporters of Akhilesh Yadav stage angry protests outside Mulayam Singh Yadav’s residence: PTI

7:48pm: Congress avoided commenting on the developments in the SP. “There is situation of political instability in UP; it’s worrisome for democracy.. (but) we don’t comment on internal division of any party,” Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala says: PTI

7:45pm: BJP’s Shrikant Sharma says the in-fighting in Samajwadi Party is scripted, meant to :divert” attention from Akhilesh’s “all-round failures of his government”: PTI

Read| Akhilesh expelled: Cong says BJP dreaming of assuming power in UP through back door

7:44pm: “In family-centered parties, if the family breaks up, the party also falls apart,” BJP’s national secretary Shrikant Sharma says

7:43pm: Party workers supporting the UP chief minister tear up posters of Shivpal Yadav, the Samajwadi Party’s state president

7:30pm: Supporters of Akhilesh Yadav gather outside his official residence. Women cry as news of the UP chief minister’s ouster from the party spreads

7:25pm: Want to urge party workers to come to RM Lohiya University on January 1 at 11am to discuss as to how to stop those doing wrong in party: ANI quotes Ramgopal Yadav as saying

7:20pm: Will know who is more acceptable among the public come elections, says Ramgopal

7:14pm: Netaji does not know the constitution of the party well, says Ramgopal Yadav

7:12pm: This is unconstitutional as both of us were expelled 2 hours after they gave the notice & without listening to our answers: Ramgopal Yadav

7:10pm: Those who are not even members of the party are now being given tickets to contest, says Ramgopal

7pm: Akhilesh expected to make a press statement after his father and party president expels him from Samajwadi Party

6:58pm: I have worked really hard to make this party, what was their role in this? I work hard and they reap the fruits?: ANI quotes Mulayam Singh Yadav as saying

6:50pm: Throngs of Akhilesh supporters gather outside the chief minister’s official residence

6:49pm: For us party is the most important and our priority is to save the party: SP Chief Mulayam Singh Yadav

6:38pm: Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh announces expulsion of his son Akhilesh Yadav and cousin Ramgopal Yadav from the party for six years