Mainpuri bypoll: Another chapter in Mulayam family saga, Shivpal bats for Dimple | Political Pulse News,The Indian Express
Shivpal's appeal comes after SP names him star campaigner, hopes to dilute impact of his aide getting BJP ticket
Just hours after the entry of Shivpal’s confidant Raghuraj Singh Shakya in the race on a BJP ticket, the SP put out a list of star campaigners that included Shivpal’s name.
If Shakya said Tuesday that he would seek the blessings of his “political guru” Shivpal for the December 5 by-election, on Wednesday, Shivpal asked workers of his party Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party-Lohia (PSP-L) to ensure Dimple’s victory from Mainpuri. Shivpal was at the Yadav family’s ancestral village, Saifai, in Etawah district, where he held a meeting with PSP-L leaders and workers.
He told party workers that Mulayam had an emotional bond with Mainpuri and helping Dimple win would be a true tribute to him.
In the recent Assembly elections, the SP had not included Shivpal for a long time in its star campaigners’ list – one of the many examples the uncle cites of Akhilesh sidelining him in the party.
It was after four phases of polls, including to Yadav-dominated SP strongholds of Mainpuri, Etawah, Etah, Firozabad and Kannauj districts, that Shivpal was added as a star campaigner. “Eventually, Shivpal addressed only two public meetings, one each in Jaunpur and Kushinagar, and that too because of his personal relations with the SP candidates,” says a leader of the PSP-L.
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