I am not in Samajwadi Party now: Ramgopal Yadav

MUMBAI: A day after he was expelled from Samajwadi Party for allegedly "colluding" with BJP, Ramgopal Yadav, a loyalist of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and cousin of party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, today said he is not with the party now.

"I am not in Samajwadi Party now," he told mediapersons tersely at the airport here before flying out of the city. He was in Mumbai yesterday.

Ramgopal, who was the national general secretary of Samajwadi Party, was yesterday expelled from the party for six years by Mulayam, accusing him of hobnobbing with BJP.

The party's Uttar Pradesh unit chief and Mulayam's brother Shivpal Yadav, who was dropped as a minister by Akhilesh yesterday, had accused Ramgopal of hobnobbing with BJP to save himself and his son from a CBI probe in connection with alleged involvement in the Yadav Singh Noida scam probe.

Shivpal had said Ramgopal was tarnishing the image of SP by dabbling in corruption, colluding with BJP and weakening Mulayam's leadership.

In a statement faxed from Mumbai yesterday, Ramgopal had said he would always remain with nephew Akhilesh in the "holy war" though Mulayam will continue to remain his "guru" in politics.