Compromised on self-respect but got pain in return: Uncle Shivpal's apparent dig at Akhilesh Yadav

Lucknow: In an apparent attack against Samajwadi Party chief and his nephew Akhilesh Yadav, sulking socialist leader Shivpal Singh Yadav on Tuesday said he compromised on his self-respect to "satisfy" him but in return got only "pain".

"We taught him how to walk and he went on trampling us," the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party-Lohia (PSPL) chief said amid reports of a rift with his nephew.

"I tried to satisfy him by going down to the bottom point of self-respect!. Despite this, if I am angry...To what extent he must have inflicted pain on my heart!," said the socialist leader without taking anyone's name in his tweet.

Shivpal Singh Yadav had stitched an alliance with Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.

Both leaders had parted ways ahead of the 2017 Assembly polls, after which Shivpal Singh Yadav formed his own party.

However, he contested this year's Assembly polls on the symbol of the Samajwadi Party following reunion at the behest of party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav.

The differences between both leaders surfaced again when Shivpal Singh Yadav was not invited for a meeting of SP MLAs in March.

Feeling slighted, the senior socialist leader delayed taking oath as legislator. After taking oath, Shivpal Yadav met Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, triggering speculations of his possible crossover to the BJP.

The conjecture further got currency when he started following Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Adityanath on their Twitter accounts.

Akhilesh Yadav has taken a swipe at his uncle on several occasions on reports of his growing proximity with the BJP.

On one occasion, he categorically said that those close to the BJP had no place in the Samajwadi Party, a clear-cut message to his uncle.