New Delhi: Shivpal Yadav, the brother of Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, on Thursday evening tendered his resignation from the Akhilesh Yadav cabinet and from all the party posts he holds. However, UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has refused to accept the resignation. The drama happened on an evening that saw party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav get into firefighting mode in a bid to sort out the feud between his brother and his son.
Akhilesh had on Tuesday divested his uncle of key portfolios in the UP government after Shivpal had been named to replace him as the state unit chief of the party. The party post would have held a high profile in view of the coming Assembly elections. Shivpal's son, Aditya, also resigned from his post as chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Cooperative Federation.
Shortly before Shivpal sent in his resignation from the UP cabinet, Akhilesh had met his father. This in itself had come after a meeting between Shivpal and Akhilesh, which had lasted about 20 minutes.
Earlier in the day, Mulayam's cousin and SP general secretary, Ram Gopal Yadav, had come out in support of Akhilesh. "Differences do take place on some minor point and they can be resolved.... The leadership, though not deliberately, had made a mistake when CM was removed from the post of party (state) president," he had said.
Both Ram Gopal and Akhilesh had hinted at the role of "outsiders" in sparking off the slugfest within the SP's first family, in a possible allusion to Amar Singh, who had recently rejoined the SP after being expelled in 2010.
Akhilesh had on Tuesday divested his uncle of key portfolios in the UP government after Shivpal had been named to replace him as the state unit chief of the party. The party post would have held a high profile in view of the coming Assembly elections. Shivpal's son, Aditya, also resigned from his post as chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Cooperative Federation.
Shortly before Shivpal sent in his resignation from the UP cabinet, Akhilesh had met his father. This in itself had come after a meeting between Shivpal and Akhilesh, which had lasted about 20 minutes.
Earlier in the day, Mulayam's cousin and SP general secretary, Ram Gopal Yadav, had come out in support of Akhilesh. "Differences do take place on some minor point and they can be resolved.... The leadership, though not deliberately, had made a mistake when CM was removed from the post of party (state) president," he had said.
Both Ram Gopal and Akhilesh had hinted at the role of "outsiders" in sparking off the slugfest within the SP's first family, in a possible allusion to Amar Singh, who had recently rejoined the SP after being expelled in 2010.