In a move that is bound to have far reaching consequences, the Samajwadi Party on Thursday removed its senior leader Mohan Singh from the post of party’s national spokesman. Prof. Ram Gopal Yadav has been appointed the national spokesman now.
Mr Mohan Singh’s removal comes a day after he “dared” to contradict state Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav who denied entry to mafia don-turned-politician D.P. Yadav in the Samajwadi Party. Mr Singh is one of the senior-most leaders in the party.
The controversy began last month when Mohammed Azam Khan welcomed D.P. Yadav into the Samajwadi Party and hoped his presence would strengthen the party in western UP.
Immediately after Azam Khan’s statement, Akhilesh Yadav said that D.P. Yadav would not be inducted into the party because of his criminal background.
Mohan Singh, on Wednesday, reportedly criticised Akhilesh Yadav for his statement and said that such matters should be decided by the national leadership of the party.
Mr Singh had said, “D.P. Yadav should be inducted into the party if he hasn’t done anything wrong. As per my information, there is no case registered against him. He has been a member of Assembly, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Our local leaders have raised some objections. The matter is before the Samajwadi Party’s national leadership now. It wouldn’t be appropriate to comment on it right now.”
Mr Mohan Singh’s statement was apparently seen as questioning the authority of Akhilesh Yadav.
Interestingly, this is the second time that Mr Akhilesh Yadav has overturned the decisions of his seniors in the party fold — a fact that is creating a rift in the party cadres. Last month, Akhilesh Yadav had stated that Hasnuddin Siddiqui, brother of BSP minister Naseemuddin Siddiqui, was not a member of the Samajwadi Party even though the former had been inducted into the party by senior party leader Shivpal Singh Yadav.
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Nitish raps BJP on induction of u.p. ex-minister
Age correspondent
PATNA, JAN. 5
Voicing his calibrated displeasure over the BJP inducting tainted UP ex-minister Babu Singh Kushwaha, Bihar chief minister and JD(U) strongman Nitish Kumar on Thursday said it was perfectly normal for the two NDA allies to have no alliance in the UP Assembly polls as in several other states barring Bihar.
“This time there is no alliance between us there. Is it necessary to have an alliance everywhere and all the time? We never had an alliance with them in all the states,” said Mr Kumar. “It is the opinion of our state unit and the national leadership that we contest alone in UP. It is normal. Our Bihar unit will offer full cooperation to the party in UP. I will campaign there if invited,” he added in statements that were construed as widening rifts between two of the NDA’s most consistent allies.
On the question of Mr Kushwaha’s induction and the likelihood of his being given a ticket, he said, “I see that even the BJP’s inner disagreements have come out on this. They are free to take their own decisions. I can only talk about Bihar.”