Ram Gopal Yadav stays away from MSY birthday bash

Lucknow: As Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav indulged himself in a lavish birthday party thrown by his long-time friend and senior party leader Azam Khan on Friday, the socialist leader’s cousin and party idealogue Ram Gopal Yadav stayed away from the pomp and show, reportedly disgusted by the extravagance.
Mulayam, who completes 75 years on Saturday, rode a buggy brought in from London and cut a huge cake at midnight apart from joining a cultural function in the evening in Azam Khan’s hometown in Rampur on Friday.
Also, conspicuous by her absence was Mulayam’s “chhoti bahu”, Aparna Yadav, who is on a vacation in Dubai with her parents.
Sources close to Ram Gopal Yadav said he will keep away from all celebrations in Rampur on Saturday, as well as on Sunday, when Mulayam is scheduled to inaugurate a medical college and address a rally.
Instead, he will spend time in Etawah and Ferozabad and mark his elder brother’s birthday by organizing a blood donation camp and distributing shawls to the needy.
Sources told TOI that Ram Gopal Yadav had even advised chief minister Akhilesh Yadav to ask Azam Khan to tone down the celebration as it did not go well with the tradition of “samajwad.” He was even against Akhilesh attending the function, sources said.
Sources also said that Ram Gopal Yadav’s resistance to such show was in the context of the controversy that brewed around the Saifai Mahotsav in Etawah last year, with the Samajwadi Party being criticised for organizing a show with Bollywood stars even as victims of Muzaffarnagar riots braved the January cold in rehabilitation camps.
While Ram Gopal Yadav chose to stay away in Etawah, Mulayam’s younger daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav, wife of Akhilesh Yadav’s half brother, was in Dubai on a holiday. Aparna, who is reportedly unhappy over not being able to gain a foothold politically in the party and the state, had created a stir recently by praising Mulayam’s biggest political rival Narendra Modi on a public platform.
Another absentee was Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik though Uttarakhand Governor Aziz Qureshi, who moved from Uttar Pradesh to the neighbouring state recently, was present.
When TOI asked Azam Khan why Naik was not on the invitee list, he said: “It is not a state government function.” Naik, who was sent to Up by Modi after he came to power at the Centre, has been questioning the functioning of the state government, especially on power and law and order fronts.