The Samajwadi Party is holding its 10th annual national convention on 5 Oct in Agra, and all eyes are on the outcome of the meet, as it will be deciding the future course of the party and also the political equation formed in Uttar Pradesh.
According to the sources, during the meet, former Chief Minister and incumbent Party chief, Akhilesh Yadav is likely to be re-elected as the party chief. Apart from the selection of the chief the party will amend a few rules of the party and decide a strategy for the upcoming by-polls in the state.
During the meeting, the party members will be discussing the amendment of party’s constitution to extend the tenure of the party chief to five years and passage of political and economic resolutions.
SP spokesperson Rajendra Chowdhury said that if the tenure for the party chief is extended for five years and if Akhilesh is re-elected as the SP President, the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in 2019, as well as the state assembly elections in 2022, will be held under his presidentship.
The other highlight of the meeting is the reunion of the father and the son. Since Akhilesh took the presidentship in Jan this year he has been facing ideological differences with his father Mulayam Singh Yadav and his uncle Shivpal Yadav. There were also speculations that Mulayam Singh along with Shivpal may form another party. However, a few days back Senior Yadav ruled out any possibility of the formation of a new party for the time being.
It was also believed that the former party president Mulayam Singh Yadav and his close aide and brother Shivpal Yadav will not be attending the annual convention as they had skipped the state meet in Lucknow on September 23 also. But even these rumours are also likely to be washed out, as, Akhilesh meet his father personally in Lucknow last week to extend an invitation for the conventions.
Meanwhile, both junior and senior Yadav have more than once indicated their differences against each other. Earlier last month, while addressing a gathering Akhilesh, though not pointing out names, said the member of Samajwadi Party to be aware of the fake Samajwadi’s. While Mulayam Singh also taking a jibe at his son last month replaced Akhilesh-loyalist Ram Gopal with Shivpal Yadav as the secretary of the Lohia Trust.
Though there seems to be a cold war going on within the party, Mulayam said that “My blessings are with him (Akhilesh Yadav) as he is my son, though I don’t agree with his decisions.”
Another major agenda of the meeting will be the discussion on upcoming Lok Sabha by-elections to be held in Gorakhpur and Phulpur on the seats vacated by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya. These elections hold the special significance, as it will show the position of the party.
Akhilesh Yadav has already said that if the results of these elections were in favour of the Samajwadi Party, it will be a great message for the opposition ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and the 2022 state assembly polls.