Akhilesh, Mulayam Yadav Shout At Each Other At Party Meet: 10 Updates

Lucknow:  Akhilesh Yadav will not be removed as Uttar Pradesh chief minister, Mulayam Singh Yadav said at the end of a long address at a chaotic party meet at Lucknow today that saw son and father shout at each other and the chief minister break down during an emotional speech.

1.  "Hug Shivpal Yadav, he is your uncle," Mulayam Singh told Akhilesh, making clear that his son's rivals, Shivpal and close aide Amar Singh will continue to play significant roles in the Samajwadi Party. 
 
2.  "I can't leave Amar Singh or Shivpal Yadav. All of Amar Singh's sins are forgiven," said Mulayam Singh Yadav, who had once expelled Mr Singh from the Samajwadi Party. Today he said, "Amar Singh is my brother."
  
3.  For Akhilesh, the Samajwadi Party chief had words of admonishment. "I tell Akhilesh things but he focuses on other things; abusing people does not help," he said, stating he was saddened by the rift between his son and brother.

4.  Earlier, Akhilesh Yadav broke down and offered to resign, quashing speculation about plans to split the party. "Who is forming a new party? I am not," the chief minister said, but added that some leaders in the party were conspiring against him and "creating confusion."
 
5.  Speaking right after Akhilesh Yadav, the Samajwadi Party's UP chief Shivpal Yadav alleged, "Recently I went to meet the chief minister, he said he will float a party and ally with some party," dramatically adding, "I swear on Gangajal."
 
 6.  Outside the Samajwadi Party's Lucknow office where the meeting was being held, Akhilesh Yadav's s supporters, many more in number, clashed with those of Shivpal Yadav and also engaged in competitive sloganeering.
 
 7.  Talk of an imminent split gained momentum after Akhilesh Yadav, 43, fired Shivpal Yadav, 61, as a minister in his government on Sunday, for the second time in a month. It was seen as a direct challenge to his father, who has been promoting Shivpal over him.
  
8.  Mulayam Singh Yadav, apparently returning the favour, sacked from the Samjawadi Party, his cousin Ram Gopal Yadav, a trusted adviser to Akhilesh, who has been blamed by Shivpal Yadav of "for colluding with the BJP."
  
9.  Shivpal Yadav has blamed Ram Gopal Yadav for the Samajwadi Party's exit from the Nitish-Kumar led Grand Coalition in Bihar before elections in that state last  year, widely seen as a political misstep by Mulayam Singh. There is speculation now that Mulayam Singh may propose such an alliance for the UP elections, as he tackles his party's big internal crisis that could place his son and him as rival leade.
  
10.  What has led to a turf war is who should be selected as candidates for the election. The Chief Minister's preferences vary hugely from those of his father and Shivpal. 

Source: NDTV