Lucknow: Senior Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Yadav on Friday announced that he is launching a new political party with the name of Samajwadi Secular Morcha which will be headed by his elder brother Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Shivpal who is the estranged uncle of former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav today said that this new outfit will be called as the Samajwadi Secular Morcha.
Sidelined since 2016 when Akhilesh Yadav ousted him from the cabinet first and then divested him and Mulayam Singh of their posts in the Samajwadi Party, Shivpal Yadav said he was forced to form the new party to “restore Mulayam’s honour”.
Over the last one week, Shivpal Yadav had been attacking his nephew Akhilesh Yadav, asking him to return the Samajwadi Party’s National President’s post to Mulayam Singh.
Mulayam to head new Samajwadi Secular Morcha formed by Shivpal
Akhilesh Yadav had said after becoming the National President that he would restore the post after the assembly elections.
The Samajwadi Party suffered a huge setback in the assembly polls of February-March. It won just 47 seats as against the 228 it held in the outgoing 403-member assembly.
Shivpal Yadav has been daggers drawn with his nephew for many months after a bitter family feud and power struggle broke out in the 25-year-old Samajwadi Party.
He had threatened twice in the past to quit the party and float his own if “respect” was not shown to Mulayam Singh.
