Lucknow: It seems all is not well within the Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Yadav's family over merger of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari's Qaumi Ekta Dal (QED) into party fold.
A day after senior Cabinet minister Shivpal Yadav announced the controversial move of QED's alliance with SP, reports on Wednesday started doing rounds that Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav was upset with his uncle for taking the decision, which is most likely to "portray the party in bad light" in the run-up to the state assembly polls, scheduled for early 2017.
The UP CM cancelled all his programmes scheduled for today to meet his party leaders. Powerful SP leader Shivpal Yadav too reached Akhilesh's residence to deliberate on the issue.
With eyes on crucial 2017 UP polls, Samajwadi Party yesterday embraced QED into its fold, giving fresh ammunition to the Opposition to target the ruling party over law and order issue ahead of next year's Assembly polls.
However, it seems the decision to forge an alliance with QED didn't go down well with CM Akhilesh, who late Tuesday night sacked his cabinet colleague Balram Yadav, said to be instrumental in the coalition.
Balram Yadav today broke down in front of the media and said 'Samajwadi Party was his life.'
The development also points at chinks in the party leadership as PwD Minister and Akhilesh's uncle Shivpal Yadav was present at the merger event earlier in the state capital.
Interestingly, while addressing the media yesterday Shivpal suggested that Mukhtar Ansari, the jailed MLA of QED, was not among those who had joined SP.
Meanwhile, according to another report that emerged today, Ansari's Quami Ekta Dal's merger with Samajwadi Party was likely to end.
Mukhtar represents Mau in the UP Assembly and Bihar Police is keeping a tab on him in connection with the murder of journalist Rajdeo Ranjan.
A four-time MLA from Mau, Mukhtar faces murder charges. He is the key accused in the murder of BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai in 2005 and is currently in jail.
