The veteran senior leaders of the party have taken their sides.
Here we are telling you who is supporting whom in the son vs father battle.
In Akhilesh Yadav's camp:
- Ram Gopal Yadav
Ram Gopal Yadav is a member of the Rajya Sabha representing the Samajwadi Party.
On 23rd Oct 2016, Ram was expelled from the party by brother Shivpal Singh Yadav, the state president of Samajwadi Party.
However, later, he was accepted in the party. Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, on 30 December 2016, expelled him from the party again for six years, but on the following day the expulsion was revoked by the party on constitutional grounds. He is a big supporter of Akhilesh Yadav.
- Kunwar Rewati Raman Singh
This one is a shocker. Kunwar Rewati Raman Singh was considered close to Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav). He played a significant role in the establishment of the Samajwadi Party (SP) with Mulayam Singh Yadav, Beni Verma and Azam khan.
He is reportedly backing CM Akhilesh.
He was also elected as a Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, from Allahabad twice after defeating the BJP politician, Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi and has now been elected as a MP (Rajya Sabha) from Uttar Pradesh.
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- Naresh Chandra Agrawal
Naresh Chandra Agrawal, a member of the Rajya Sabha is also reportedly in CM's camp. He has been Member of the Legislative Assembly from Hardoi constituency for seven terms.
- Kiranmoy Nanda
Kiranmoy Nanda is also reportedly in junior Yadav's camp. Nanda was the general secretary of the West Bengal Socialist Party for many years and also served as general secretary of the Samajwadi Party between 1996 and 2000 as the WBSP had merged with SP. After the Kolkata Municipal Corporation election, in 2000, Nanda broke with SP and reconstituted the WBSP.
However, in April 2010, he again became general secretary of SP, as WBSP again merged with SP. Nanda replaced Amar Singh.
In Mulayam Singh Yadav's camp:
- Amar Singh
Amar Singh, known for his chaste Hindi and political connections, polarises the public opinion on him. He has several cases of corruption pending against him making him widely unpopular. Once general secretary of the Samajwadi Party, on 6th January 2010, he resigned from all the posts of Samajwadi Party and was later expelled from the party by its chief, Mulayam Singh Yadav, on 2 February 2010.
Amar Singh spent a brief period in judicial custody in 2011 and finally retired from politics. However, in 2016 he rejoined Samajwadi Party and was elected to Rajya Sabha even after facing a stiff opposition from a section of the party including the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav.
Amar Singh, who just got Z plus security, apparently is the bone of contention between father and son. Amar Singh is reportedly in Netaji's camp.
- Azam Khan
Azam Khan has been a member of the legislative assembly for eight terms from Rampur assembly constituency. Azam Khan, a Sunni Muslim, is reportedly backing Mulayam.
- Shivpal Singh Yadav
Akhilesh's uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav is in senior Yadav's camp. He was born in Saifai village, Etawah district and is a younger brother of Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav in October sacked his uncle Shivpal Yadav and three other ministers from the cabinet.
- Beni Prasad Verma
Beni Prasad Verma is batting for Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav. Recently he backed Mulayam Singh on ticket distribution and said that winnability is the chief criterion for giving tickets and only those candidates have been fielded who can win elections.
However, the list is not complete and with time more may join either of the two camps.