Ramgopal vs Shivpal: Old but not out in the long-running Yadav family saga | Political Pulse News,The Indian Express
On Tuesday, as Ramgopal met Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, drawing much attention, the sharpest attack on him was not from his party SP but Shivpal.
They may both be out of favour in the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party, but that clearly hasn’t brought cousins Shivpal Yadav and Ramgopal Yadav together.
On Tuesday, as Ramgopal met Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, drawing much attention, the sharpest attack on him was not from his party SP but Shivpal. The Pragatisheel Samajwadi party (PSP) leader, elected as an MLA on SP ticket, questioned Ramgopal’s meeting with the CM, ostensibly to seek help for the family of a former MLA and his younger brother who are related to Ramgopal and are facing police action.
Associated with the SP since the party was formed by Mulayam Singh Yadav, Shivpal and Ramgopal have had strained relations for some time now. Mulayam had worked out an arrangement to keep the peace between the two, as part of which brother Shivpal, a son-of-the-soil politician like him, was his trusted man in Uttar Pradesh, looking after the party’s organisational affairs in the state. The more sophisticated Ramgopal, Mulayam’s cousin, was the SP face in Delhi and at national forums.
This balance shifted when the rise of Mulayam’s son Akhilesh created friction in the party, including between the father and son, around 2016 – during the time Akhilesh was CM. Ramgopal sided with Akhilesh, becoming the first senior SP leader to come out in support of him when Mulayam removed him as UP party chief and replaced him with Shivpal in September 2016.
Over the next few months, there were expulsions and counter-expulsions from both sides, with the family tussle for power played out in the open.
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