SP spilt: Shivpal, Mulayam's new party launch a move closer to BJP?
The duo may have broken away to show anti-Congressism, keep options open for 2019 Lok Sabha polls The much imminent split in the Samajwadi Party materialised on Friday, with senior party leader Shivpal Yadav announcing that his elder brother Mulayam Singh Yadav would head the Samajwadi Secular Morcha, to be guided by the tenets of social justice and secularism. Both Mulayam and Shivpal were upset with Akhilesh Yadav for having a seat adjustment with the Congress in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls. After the SP’s disastrous showing in the polls, Akhilesh, who had displaced his father as the head of the party, faced strident criticism for having jettisoned the party’s anti-Congressism. Read this: Modi needs to earn Kashmir's trust by offering it a new political system The new front offers Mulayam and Shivpal the opportunity to distance themselves from Akhilesh’s politics, keep their anti-Congressism alive and also keep their options open for the 2019 Lok Sa...