SP feud: Mulayam Singh calls meet of 393 candidates allotted tickets by him on Dec 31

Lucknow: The internal feud in ruling Samajwadi Party took a turn for the worst on Friday as party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav expelled 

his son and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and party general secretary Ramgopal Yadav from the party for six years.Yadav and party general secretary Ramgopal Yadav from the party for six years.

The crisis reached a flash point late Thursday night after Akhilesh circulated his own list of 235 candidates for the upcoming state assembly 

elections, the schedule for which is likely to be announced any day now.

Meanwhile, the Samajwadi Party supremo has also called a meeting on December 31of all those allotted tickets by him even as the Chief 

Minister’s camp remained adamant on contesting against the official candidates of the party.

Mulayam has convened a meeting in Lucknow tomorrow and has summoned 393 out of 403 candidates who have been allotted tickets by him.

Party insiders see the meeting with immense significance as the SP chief was likely gauge the sentiments of the candidates and conduct a fresh 

review of the list amid fears that the battle for control in SP left the party cadres divided and highly confused at grassroots level.

The Chief Minister's camp, however, remained adamant on contesting against the official candidates of the party. 

This morning, Shivpal Yadav, the warring uncle of Akhilesh, had met his brother Mulayam for nearly an hour, however, it is yet to be known 

what transpired in the meeting as Shivpal refused to answer the mediapersons waiting outside Mulayam's residence.

Hectic attempts were made by Mulayam to avert a split after the crisis reached a flash point yesterday after CM Akhilesh released his own list 

of candidates for the assembly polls, parallel to party's official list, released by 'frenemy' Shivpal Yadav. 

As the SP grappled with the unprecedented crisis, senior leader and UP Minister Azam Khan voiced deep distress over the developments and 

said, "Bad blood between relatives has damaged the future of the state."