Despite Mulayam's apparent keenness, Akhilesh Yadav opposes any ties with QED once again

LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav may have leaned in favour of Shivpal Yadav on the issue of merging mafia-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari’s party Qaumi Ekta Dal into SP, but CM Akhilesh Yadav is learnt to have conveyed strong objection to the proposed move. Sources within the ruling Yadav family said that Akhilesh has strongly opposed allowing Qaumi Ekta Dal, which has two MLAs Mukhtar Ansari and Sibatullah Ansari, to merge into SP.

Shivpal, who is SP’s UP incharge, had announced merger of QED with SP on June 21. Shivpal had kept Mukhtar Ansari, who is currently in jail, out of the merger. However, CM Akhilesh Yadav put his foot down against the merger, saying any association with criminals with tarnishing the Samajwadi Party’s image as it heads for polls.

Akhilesh said that the government has fulfilled all its manifesto promises and completed big-ticket infrastructure work and it should go to polls on the plank of development, keeping controversial figures and criminals at bay. Akhilesh’s strong stand saw the SP scrapping the merger, causing much embarrassment to Shivpal who was seen as the architect of the merger.

This issue among others, became a reason for renewed friction between Akhilesh and Shivpal factions within SP and Shivpal on Sunday said “leaders and bureaucrats were not listening to me and in such a situation it was better to resign”. A day later Mulayam came out strongly in Shivpal’s favour