Senior Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Shivpal Yadav on Friday announced the formation of a new party ‘Samajwadi Secular Morcha’ to be led by his brother and SP patron Mulayam Singh Yadav as the party chief.
"To return the respect due to Netaji (Mulayam), and to bring the real samajwadis together, we will soon announce this front (Netaji ko unka sammaan vapas dilane, aur Samajawadion ko ek saath laane ke liye is morche ka jald hi ailaan hoga)," Shivpal said to a new agency.
Earlier this week, Shivpal had threatened to form a new party if his nephew SP leader Akhilesh Yadav did not hand over the party reigns to father Mulayam.
“Akhilesh had promised to hand over the party to ‘netaji’ (Mulayam). He should now do so and we all will strengthen the SP. I had also given him three months’ time. Otherwise, I will constitute a new secular front,” Shivpal said in Etawah.
The Samajwadi Party witnessed a feud between Mulayam’s brother Shivpal and son Akhilesh in the recent Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls during which Akhilesh took over the reigns of the party from his father. However the party, which joined hands with Congress for the Assembly polls, suffered a humiliating defeat under Akhilesh’s leadership.