Shivpal Yadav's security downgraded from ‘Z' to ‘Y’ category amid intense campaigning for Mainpuri Lok Sabha bypoll

“MLA and PSP chief Shivpal Yadav's security has been downgraded from the Z to the Y category,” Security Department, Uttar Pradesh Police has said in a statement.

NEW DELHI: At a time when campaigning has intensified for the crucial Manpuri Lok Sabha byelection, the Uttar Pradesh government led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has downgraded the security provided to MLA and PSP chief Shivpal Yadav. According to reports, Shivpal Yadav, who is the younger brother of later Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav and uncle of party chief Akhilesh Yadav, will now be covered under the ‘Y’ category.

“MLA and PSP chief Shivpal Yadav's security has been downgraded from the Z category to the Y category,” Security Department, Uttar Pradesh Police said in a statement.  

Uttar Pradesh | MLA and PSP chief Shivpal Yadav's security downgraded from the Z category to the Y category: Security Department, Uttar Pradesh Police pic.twitter.com/6Iqe5XMkxF

— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) November 28, 2022

The announcement comes days ahead of the Mainpuri Lok Sabha by-election which is due to be held on December 5 and the result will be declared on December 8. Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat is a traditional seat of the Yadav family and has been a Samajwadi Party bastion.

BJP has fielded for party MP Raghuraj Singh Shakya to take on SP's Dimple Yadav. It was earlier speculated that Shivpal Singh Yadav may also contest. But Samajwadi Party declared Dimple Yadav as its candidate. According to family sources, Shivpal Singh Yadav also supported Dimple Yadav`s candidature after which the Samajwadi Party went a step further and included his name in its list of star campaigners.

At present, both parties are putting their full force into the campaign. Late Mulayam Singh Yadav was a continuous MP from here. However, in the last Lok Sabha elections, Mulayam`s victory margin was very thin. Since then, it was believed that after Mulayam, Mainpuri would not be easy for the SP. This became further clear only in the by-elections that were held after the death of Mulayam Singh Yadav. If political pundits are to be believed, now the matter is 50-50.

However, sending a strong message to party workers that the Yadav family is united ahead of the crucial Mainpuri Lok Sabha bypoll, Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav shared the dais with his uncle Shivpal Yadav, who leads a separate political outfit, while campaigning for wife Dimple in Saifai on Sunday. 

Akhilesh also touched his uncle’s feet in a show of bonhomie and assured party workers that the two have indeed come together after burying the hatchet of the past.