With Uttar Pradesh assembly elections around the corner, there is an ongoing feud within the ruling Samajwadi Party involving chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav and senior leader Shivpal Yadav.
The family politics has once again spilled over to national pages and channels this week.
Here’s a timeline of events ever since the feud started:
August 14: The feud came out in the open after Shivpal Yadav threatened to resign, citing the reason that officers were ignoring him and that there was an increase in land grab cases in the state.
August 15: Mulayam Singh Yadav backs brother Shivpal, warns that if he leaves party then SP will get divided into factions.
September 12: Akhilesh Yadav came in the story after he took a major step by sacking two of his ministers- Gayatri Prasad Prajapati and Raj Kishore Singh- over corruption charges.
September 13: Mulayam Sing Yadav initiates the beginning of worst crisis in Samajwadi Party by replacing his son Akhilesh Yadav and appoints Shivpal Yadav as the state unit chief.
September 13: Akhilesh retaliates, strips his uncle Shivpal Yadav of three key ministries.
September 15: In order to resolve the issues between son and his brother, Mulayam holds separate meetings with Akhilesh and Shivpal.
September 18: Shivpal Yadav gets back all his previous and powerful ministries.
September 19: Shivpal as state party president expels seven Akhilesh-loyalists from the party.
September 26: Gayatri Prajapati re-inducted during expansion of CM Akhilesh’s Cabinet.
October 3: Shivpal names murder accused Amanmani Tripathi as Samajwadi Party candidate, Akhilesh fumes.
October 6: Akhilesh left red-faced after Shivpal Yadav announced the merger of mafia don-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari’s Quami Ekta Dal with the Samajwadi Party.
October 13: Akhilesh in an interview said given party’s present state, he may have to single-handedly start campaigning for the 2017 polls.
October 14: Mulayam said, CM candidate will be decided by MLAs after polls.
October 23: In a swift move of retaliation, Akhilesh Yadav sacks Shivpal along with three other ministers from the government.
October 24: Irked over the sacking of Shivpal, Akhilesh’s close aide and SP supremo’s cousin Ram Gopal Yadav is expelled from the party for six years.
December 25: Reigniting the family feud, UP CM Akhilesh Yadav submitted his own list of 403 probable candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections.
December 28: Mulayam snubs Akhilesh and announces candidates for 325 of the 403 Assembly seat.
December 29: Akhilesh revolts and releases his own list of 235 candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections, a day after his father and party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav released the official list.
December 30: In a major setback for Akhilesh, Mulayam today expelled him for six years. He also expelled his cousin Ram Gopal Yadav for anti-party activities.
Earlier today he had issued a showcause notice to Akhilesh Yadav for indiscipline over parallel list of candidates for UP polls.
