Open confrontation between chief minister Akhilesh Yadav with his uncle Shivpal Yadav has not only unnerved Mulayam Singh Yadav but also demoralized the rank and file of the party.

The confrontation between the uncle and nephew has reached to such a level that Shivpal Yadav has stopped sharing a dais with the chief minister and remained absent from oath taking ceremony of ministers and cabinet meetings and important official programmes of his own departments where Akhilesh Yadav was called as chief guest.

The entire government machinery and party organization was shocked when Shivpal Yadav threatened to quit if no action was taken against those SP leaders who were involved in land grabbing spree and he complained that officers were not listening to him.

It would be worth mentioning here that Shivpal Yadav and Azam Khan were opposed to the very idea of Akhilesh Yadav becoming chief minister; they wanted Mulayam Singh Yadav to become chief minister.

It took some time for Mulayam Singh Yadav to persuade these two leaders to accept Akhilesh Yadav as the chief minister; then only the oath was administered to the young leader.

Since then, there were these two leaders who were free from any interference from chief minister and did whatever they felt right in their departments.

Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav became upset when his uncle Shivpal Yadav was given additional charge of being party in-charge for 2017 assembly elections. Akhilesh also holds the charge of the state president of the party as well.

The problem started when Shivpal Yadav removed two close associates of Akhilesh Yadav from the party. This act of Shivpal Yadav annoyed Akhilesh Yadav so much that he refused to go to Sefai Mahotsav for several days.

Later on, Akhilesh Yadav prevailed upon Mulayam Singh Yadav to bring back his two associates to party fold and rewarded them with membership of UP Legislative Council.

Uncle and nephew again confronted openly on the issue of merger of Quami Ekta Dal of mafia-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari with Samajwadi Party. Shivpal Yadav had announced the merger of the two party but Akhilesh Yadav protested and got it cancelled through parliamentary board.

Shivpal Yadav realizes that the merger of two parties would help SP in getting Muslim votes in several district in an around Varanasi where Mukhtar Ansari enjoyed tremendous support which was evident in 2012 assembly polls results.

Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav is conscious of his own image; that is why he opposed the entry of persons with criminal backgrounds to the party which would be counter-productive in the 2017 assembly polls.

It would be worth mentioning here that in 2012, Akhilesh Yadav opposed the entry of another mafia turned politician Mr DP Yadav to his party which helped in mobilizing people for the party and earned him their goodwill.

Shivpal Yadav is responsible in bringing back to Amar Singh in the party and making him Rajya Sabha MP. The fact remains that senior party leader and cousin brother Ram Gopal and Mohd Azam were very opposed to the idea of bring back Amar Singh to party and sending him to Rajya Sabha after his open criticism of Mulayam Singh Yadav and party during last five years when he was removed from the party.

The body language of certain family members of Mulayam Singh Yadav and speeches at the birthday function of Ram Gopal Yadav at Lucknow made it clear that all was not well in family and the party.

Sharp differences between Shivpal Yadav and his cousin brother Ram Gopal Yadav are too well known to public and party leaders.

Shocked by the differences between uncle and nephew, SP president Mulayam Singh openly supported his younger brother Shivpal and publicly criticized his own chief minister son and his ministers and attitudes of SP leaders involved in land grabbing cases.

Mulayam Singh Yadav said if Shivpal decided to quit and leave the party then half of the party and legislators would go with him. He further said that majority of ministers in UP were a burden and liability and it would be difficult for party to come back to power.

Now once again Mulayam Singh Yadav succeeded in persuading Shivpal Yadav to visit chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and sort out differences.

After the meeting with CM Akhilesh Yadav on August 19, uncle Shivpal Yadav said that all issues were discussed and he was confident that soon action would be taken against those involved in land grabbing.

There are reports that Shivpal Yadav may be given full charge of party while CM Akhilesh Yadav sets out on Vikas Rath Yatra on September 12 to touch almost all assembly constituencies before assembly polls to inform the voters about achievements of his government.

Veteran political analyst Dr Ramesh Dixit said that it was very unfortunate that senior members of Mulayam Singh Yadav family were fighting among themselves when communal forces were active in UP to polarize the society for 2017 assembly polls. (IPA Service)