Senior Samajwadi Party leaders meet Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh

Agrawal said in the meetings they made an attempt to reduce the “distance between the key leaders of the party” to ensure that the “parivar remains united”, “the organisation gets strengthened” and the “party contests the 2017 Assembly polls unitedly”. Nanda refused to divulge details but said, “the crisis will not last any longer.”

This is the first time that senior SP leaders have intervened to resolve the ongoing turmoil — mainly between CM Akhilesh Yadav and his uncle and SP’s state unit chief, Shivpal Yadav, with Mulayam seeming to back his brother.