Samajwadi Party Expels MLC Udayveer Singh, Mulayam Upset With Akhilesh

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party (SP) on Saturday seemed headed towards a possible split with the party leadership expelling MLC Udayveer Singh after he incurred the wrath of party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav for writing a letter against his family.

Sources said Mulayam is upset with his son and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav for sheltering Udayveer as the raging crisis in the party showed no sign of respite.

The decision came after Mulayam met senior leaders in the morning to find ways to end the raging infighting which is threatening to take the party to the verge of a split.

Party insiders claimed Mulayam was very upset that his son gave shelter to Udayveer who wrote a letter alleging that the CM was targeted by his stepmother and black magic used against him.

Sources also said that Mulayam - without naming Ram Gopal Yadav who is known to be close to Akhilesh - expressed displeasure against him for approaching the Election Commission reportedly to float a new political party ahead of the state elections.

The party leaders who held the meeting with Mulayam are likely to meet Akhilesh separately around 4.30 in the evening.

The crisis in the party escalated on Friday when Akhilesh skipped the crucial party meeting convened by state unit chief and his uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav.

"Party state unit chief Shivpal Singh Yadav personally invited Akhilesh to attend the district presidents meeting but he refused to attend it," party sources said.

Akhilesh, with whom Shivpal is engaged in a running feud over the last few months, has already made it clear in a letter to the Samajwadi Party boss and his father Mulayam that he would be proceeding on his 'rath yatra' on November 3 to highlight the development work done by his government, in a clear indication that he would skip the November 5 event too.

With the tense stand-off between Akhilesh and Shivpal continuing, speculation about a possible split is rife with some even suggesting that a new party could be formed by the Chief Minister ahead of the assembly elections.