Presidential Polls: Akhilesh's Uncle Shivpal Yadav Pledges Support To NDA's Droupadi Murmu
Shivpal Yadav, who had tied up with his nephew Akhilesh Yadav ahead of the Uttar Pradesh elections, said SP is weakening and several leaders are quitting due to “political immaturity” of the latter.
New Delhi: After naming a consensus candidate for the country’s highest office, the Opposition forces have been subtly but steadily shying away from throwing their weight behind Yashwant Sinha, the presidential challenger to BJP-backed Droupadi Murmu, as per reports.
On the heels of Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee claiming that the Opposition could have built a consensus around Murmu, had the BJP proposed her name for president earlier, thereby opening up cracks in the Opposition unity around Sinha, Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party chief and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mulayam Singh’s bother Shivpal Yadav has now pledged support to the BJP’s presidential pick, according to a report by news agency ANI.
As per the ANI report, Shivpal Yadav, who had tied up with his nephew Akhilesh Yadav ahead of the Uttar Pradesh elections, on Saturday said that the SP is weakening and several leaders are quitting due to the “political immaturity” of the latter.
His statement comes a day after he attended a dinner party hosted by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in honour of Murmu, who was in Lucknow for campaigning ahead of the presidential polls.
Extending his support to Murmu, Shivpal, as quoted by ANI said, “I had already said that I am going to vote for the one who asks for it. Samajwadi Party neither called me, nor asked for my vote. CM Yogi Adityanath invited me yesterday where I met NDA’s Presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu and decided to vote for her.”
“Due to a lack of political maturity in Akhilesh Yadav, Samajwadi Party is becoming weak and several leaders are quitting the party. I am not invited to party meetings. I was not even invited to the meeting with opposition Presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha,” he added.
Apart from Shivpal Yadav, Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief Om Prakash Rajbhar, Jansatta Dal Loktantrik founder Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias ‘Raja Bhaiya’ and the lone Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA in Uttar Pradesh, Uma Shankar Singh were also seen at the dinner party on Friday, as per the ANI report.
Notably, Mamata Banerjee had earlier said that Murmu had better chances to win the presidential election, with NDA’s numbers having got boosted after the change of guard in Maharashtra.
“BJP's presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu has better chances (to win presidential polls) because of Maharashtra development. If the BJP had asked for our suggestion before announcing the name of Murmu, we could have considered it, too, bearing greater interests in mind,” news agency PTI quoted Banerjee as saying.
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