Akhilesh Yadav confirms alliance with estranged uncle Shivpal Yadav’s party: SP will give him full respect

Lucknow, Nov 3: A day after Shivpal Yadav said that he was ready to merge his Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party Lohia (PSPL), Samajwadi Party (SP) President Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday said that he was willing to forge an alliance with his estranged uncle to defeat the BJP.

"It has been the endeavour of Samajwadi Party to stitch alliance with smaller parties. Naturally, we are going to forge an alliance with the party of uncle (Shivpal Singh Yadav) as well. Samajwadi Party will give him full respect," news agency ANI quotes Akhilesh Yadav as saying.

There has been an intense feud among the members of the Yadav family in the SP since 2017. Due to differences over the functioning of the party with Akhilesh Yadav, Shivpal Yadav had left the party and floated his own outfit in 2018.

There were been attempts to bring the warring members together and it was said that Shivpal Yadav would formally rejoin the party on Mulayam Singh Yadav's birthday on 22 November.

Shivpal Yadav's return gives a boost to the party as it prepares for the assembly elections, which is scheduled to be held next year.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Minister Anand Swarup Shukla alleged that Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav enjoys the patronage of Pakistan spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and said he might get converted to Islam to appease Muslims.

"Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has become a challenge for the Islamic world. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is getting all support from them. Akhilesh is getting 'sanrakshan aur sujhav' (patronage and advice) from the ISI. It is possible that he might also be getting economic support from it," PTI quoted Shukla as saying.

It comes days after Yadav in a speech in Hardoi spoke of Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru and Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah in the same breath as leaders who fought for India's independence.

"To appease Muslims, Yadav had performed 'namaz' and observed 'roza' (fast). He can also go for 'matantaran' (religious conversion) and 'khatna' to get their votes," he said.