Victory in Mainpuri unites chacha, bhatija

Lucknow: After Mrs Dimple Yadav won the by-election to the Mainpuri parliamentary seat on Thursday, Mr Shivpal Yadav announced the merger of his party Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party Lohia (PSPL) with the Samajwadi Party.

The Mainpuri by-election victory in UP broke the ice between chacha (uncle) Shivpal and his bhatija (nephew) Akhilesh Yadav, the SP chief. Their relations improved after the death of SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mrs Dimple Yadav was made the Mainpuri SP candidate. Sulking Shivpal Yadav not only agreed to campaign for Mrs Yadav but toiled hard to ensure her win. The victory cemented ties in the Yadav clan, and Mr Shivpal Yadav after merging his PSPL with the SP announced he would work to strengthen the party organisation and the hands of Mr Akhilesh Yadav.

Mr Shivpal Yadav, a stalwart SP leader had floated the PSPL in 2018 after their relationship strained. In the 2022 assembly poll, he forged an alliance with Mr Akhilesh Yadav, which was broken soon after the election.

However, the by-poll results in UP were a cause for concern for SP. It lost Rampur assembly seat to BJP. Known as a fort of SP stalwart Azam Khan, it has lost the seat after 25 years and for the first time in the history, BJP tasted success here. However, SP compensated the loss by snatch­ing the Khatauli assembly seat from BJP where its alliance nomi­nee Madan Bhaiya of the Rashtr­i­ya Lok Dal won the by-poll.