Shivpal Yadav scapegoat to save CM: Mayawati

BSP supremo Mayawati said Sunday that Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav made his brother Shivpal Yadav a “scapegoat” to save his son Akhilesh Yadav, Uttar Pradesh’s chief minister, as the party was now aware that it was facing defeat in the coming Assembly elections.

Ms Mayawati said: “It is Mulayam’s love for his son that led to this civil war in the party. Mulayam wants to divert the people’s attention from the lack of governance in the Akhilesh government and its failures... Mulayam Singh Yadav is certain Samajwadi Party would face a crushing defeat in the Assembly polls, so all the responsibilities of the elections have been handed over to his brother, so the latter can bear the blame after the elections”.

She said law and order had gone from bad to worse in the state, and now the communal clash in Bijnore had exposed the failures of the Akhilesh government, but the responsibility for the Samajwadi Party’s defeat will be pinned on Shivpal’s shoulders and Akhilesh will emerge unscathed, the BSP chief claimed.

Ms Mayawati asked why a minister, known for his corruption in the mining department, was sacked and later found fit to be reinstated.