Shivpal Yadav, Swami Prasad Maurya among 14 general secretaries in new SP national executive

Samajwadi Party MLC Swami Prasad Maurya has been made one of the 14 national general secretaries of the party in its revamped national executive amid criticism from the BJP and the saint community for his remarks on the Ramcharitmanas.

Maurya's induction into the party's national executive has invited even more scathing attacks from the BJP. But with Akhilesh Yadav's measured statement on Saturday after his meeting with Maurya, where he did not oppose the Ambedkarite leader's remark but said that he has asked him to speed up the agitation for caste census, the induction clearly spells the SP's strategy of making social justice its mainstay to challenge the BJP's Hindutva plank for the 2024 polls.

Apart from Maurya, Shivpal Yadav, who had last year merged his party, Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia), with the SP after helping the SP win the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat in the bypolls, was also made one of the national general secretaries. The SP announced its 63-member national executive on Sunday.


While Akhilesh Yadav remains the president, Kiranmoy Nanda, former MP and minister in the Left front-led government in West Bengal, has been appointed as national vice-president. Nanda, SP's key leader in WB, had earlier served as the party general secretary.

Ram Gopal Yadav will follow Nanda in the hierarchy as national chief general secretary followed by Azam Khan, Shivpal Yadav and 12 other national general secretaries, including Maurya.