Mulayam my guru, but will stay with Akhilesh, says Ram Gopal Yadav

“Whether I am in the party or not, in this ‘dharma yuddh’, I shall always be with Akhilesh Yadav,” Ramgopal said in a statement issued from Mumbai.

The Rajya Sabha member added that he would continue to side with Akhilesh till he was re-elected as the chief minister.

Ramgopal further said that “Mulayam has been surrounded by “evil spirits” and would realise the truth only after “he is rid of those evil spirits”. “I will continue to respect (Mulayam) throughout my life,” the former SP national general secretary said.

Ramgopal was earlier in the day expelled from the party for six years by Mulayam, accusing him of hobnobbing with BJP.

The senior leader, fondly knows as “Professor Saheb” in SP said he was not disappointed by the expulsion but the “cheap allegations levelled against me have definitely pained me deeply.”

He said meeting leaders of other political parties was not a crime in democratic politics and added that he had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Mulayam to invite him for a family function in Saifai.

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The senior leader however added that a BJP MP had hosted a “bhoj” (dinner party) on the occasion of marriage of Shivpal’s son. Later an MP of the party (SP) had thrown a party to welcome the BJP MP and Mulayam and Shivpal had attended that event, he said in the letter.

“Raising these things depicts cheap mentality. I again appeal Samajwadis to not to get distracted and support Akhilesh with their full strength to ensure that ‘rajneeti ke dalal’ do not succeed in their attempts to defeat Akhilesh,” he further said.

In the evening, Shivpal shot off a letter to Ramgopal informing him about reasons behind his expulsion. In the letter, Shivpal said that in attempt to save himself, his son Akshay and daughter-in-law from CBI, Ramgopal had been causing threat to the very existence of Samajwadi Party at the hands of communal forces.

“It was your conspiracy during Bihar Assembly polls that caused split in the secular and socialist grand alliance while all secular leaders had given consent for handing over their poll symbols and also for accepting Mulayam Singh Yadav as their leader,” Shivpal further said in the letter.

Shivpal also alleged that Ramgopal, as national general secretary, has weakened the party. He further stated that Ramgopal has “raised questions over leadership of Mulayam” and has “continuously made adverse remarks against SP chief at the instance of communal forces”.

“You are being expelled from the party for six years following directives of party’s national president because of your involvement in anti-party activities, giving shelter to corrupts, brokers, and those involved in illegal activities like land grabbing and your indisciplined behaviour,” Shivpal said.