‘Saifai Ka Sangram’: RSS mouthpiece says two groups in Yadav clan in war of supremacy

The cover story in the magazine, titled Saifai ka Sangram, details the turmoil and upheaval that the ruling party in UP and the Yadav clan went through in the last 15 days. The report states that Mulayam would have never imagined the consequences of appointing his son Akhilesh as the CM in 2012. It claims that Mulayam made “SP a party of one family” only in the interest of Akhilesh.

Terming the family feud as ‘Mahabharata’, the report claims Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh, who returned to SP a few months ago, is part of the group led by Mulayam while Cabinet Minister Azam Khan supports the Akhilesh’s group.

“In the script of this political Mahabharata, Mulayam’s second wife Sadhna and their son Prateek too have (played) crucial roles,” it claims, adding that they are part of SP supremo’s group. Akhilesh is Mulayam’s son from his first wife.

According to the report, the foundation for the current clash for power had got laid immediately after Akhilesh took oath as CM. His uncle Shivpal emerged as an important power centre and indirectly held the command of the government having dominance in administrative affairs with even CM’s opinions being ignored in administrative decisions on various occasions.

As per the report, Shivpal had a dominant role in the appointment of chief secretary, DGP and posting of district magistrates and superintendents of police in the districts. “Akhilesh silently kept watching the drama because Shivpal had blessings of Mulayam,” the report claims.

It further reports that the situation started changing following political ambitions of Mulayam’s cousin Ram Gopal, who had been kept away from state politics in the interest of Akhilesh. Ram Gopal, however, developed good relations with Akhilesh while Azam too “joined this camp” as “he too was unhappy with re-induction of Amar Singh in the party”, the report claims.

“With this, ground was prepared for the clash between two groups in Mulayam’s family,” states the report, claiming that former Chief Secretary Deepak Singhal, who is close to Shivpal, had attended a party hosted by Amar Singh in Delhi without informing Akhilesh. It further claims that the decision to change the party state president was taken when Akhilesh removed Singhal from the post of chief secretary. Akhilesh later divested Shivpal of key portfolios.

The report also claims that both Mulayam and Shivpal were worried after Akhilesh dismissed Gayatri Prasad Prajapati from his Cabinet. The apprehended that the sacked mining minister could turn a rebel adversely impacting Mulayam’s family.

Reacting to the report, Cabinet Minister and SP spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary said that “RSS has shown its basic character of misleading the people, spreading misinformation and doing politics of hatred”. Chaudhary said that RSS has the “character of drawing personal issues into politics”.