NEW DELHI: A day after he was expelled from SP for allegedly "colluding" with BJP, Ramgopal Yadav, a loyalist of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and cousin of party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, today said he is not with the party now but still stands with Akhilesh Yadav and will again make him CM in upcoming elections.
Ramgopal Yadav reiterated his loyalty to Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and dared party state chief Shivpal Yadav and party leader Amar Singh to list out their charges and allegations against him in a 'public meeting' and walk away unscathed.
"Whatever is happening in the Samajwadi Party is quite saddening. I was informed about the commotion that happened today and how even the mike was even snatched from the Chief Minister's hands. No Chief Minister of UP has till date, handled such a situation in such a spectacular manner," Yadav said.
Praising Akhilesh's personality, Yadav further said that no other party till date has waged a personal war against the Chief Minister, adding that it was disappointing that he was being attacked by certain people within the party.
"I have always defended the good work done by Akhilesh and I have always stood by him through thick and thin and some people could just not stomach that.
He further dared Shivpal and Amar Singh to list out their charges against him in a public meeting and walk away safe and unscathed.
"If that happens then I will admit that I am a political failure and will not work with the public ever again," Ramgopal said.
Asserting that his sole goal right now is to ensure that Akhilesh becomes Chief Minister again, he further said that he will do everything to ensure that it happens.
He also made it clear that he will make any requests to be reinstated back in the party.
"I will consider coming back if I am asked to respectfully and also that all the other expelled members are called back
Earlier, briefing the media about the decision of Mulayam to expel Ramgopal, Shivpal alleged, "Ramgopal Yadav was working at the behest of the BJP to save his son and daughter-in-law from the CBI as both are involved in the Noida scam in the Yadav Singh case''.
The Noida scam is being investigated by the CBI and Noida chief engineer Yadav Singh and several other are in prison.
"Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav is innocent and unable to differentiate between the friend and the foe. Ramgopal is an expert of manipulations and is out to destroy the party and weaken the Chief Minister and the party chief for his narrow political ends," alleged Shivpal, adding, "Ramgopal always humiliated the leaders and the cadre of the party and never came to their rescue during their hard times''.
Shivpal also alleged that when thousands of the party workers were in jail during the previous BSP regime, Ramgopal never bothered to visit them.
"Ramgopal even insulted the senior leaders like Janeshwar Mishra, Mohan Singh and Brij Bhushan Tewari. Now he has crossed the limit as we are struggling hard for the return of the party to power while Ramgopal is vitiating the atmosphere and spreading confusion," charged Shivpal.
Ramgopal had triggered off the events by dropping a letter bomb early on Sunday morning in which he said that those who were opposing Akhilesh should not be allowed to succeed and it must be ensured that such people do not reach the Vidhan Sabha again.
Ramgopal, who has sided with his nephew Akhilesh in the power struggle in the family, said in the letter that "future of the party lay with Akhilesh".
While no one had been specifically targeted, the letter spoke of people who had a negative mindset, "minted crores of rupees and misused power".
"We want the SP to form the next Government under the leadership of Akhilesh, our mindset is positive while theirs is negative. The people on the other side are those who have minted thousands of crores of rupees by abusing power and indulged in debauchery," he added in a veiled attack on Shivpal.