Yadav family tussle: SP’s Executive committee meet at Mulayam’s residence

New Delhi: Amid the rifts between Yadav family, the Uttar Pradesh government held a Executive committee meet on Saturday morning. Five senior SP leaders reached Mulayam’s residence with an idea to resolve the unrest in the party. The meet included senior leaders like Beni Prasad Verma and Revati Yadav. On Friday, the chasm in UP's ruling Samajwadi Party grew wider with Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav skipping an important meeting called by state party chief Shivpal Yadav to strategise the assembly polls, which are due early next year. Akhilesh’s uncle Shivpal Yadav declared him the party's chief ministerial face during the meet. Akhilesh, however, met the delegates, who earlier attended the meeting called by Shivpal, at his residence separately. Shivpal had convened a meeting of SP district and city unit presidents at the party headquarters earlier in the day but Akhilesh was conspicuous by his absence. At the strategy session for the assembly polls due early next year, Shivpal, apparently seeking to bury the hatchet, declared nephew Akhilesh the party's chief ministerial face. "Akhilesh Yadav will be the next CM, if party is voted to power. He will be our CM candidate," Shivpal said, days after Mulayam virtually left the field open by saying the newly elected legislators will choose their leader, something which did not go down well with the camp followers of the incumbent CM. Even Akhilesh’s cousin and Shivpal’s son, Aditya on Friday favoured Akhilesh as a CM face for Samajwadi party, and said “The party could bear a lot of loss if Akhilesh doesn’t become the CM candidate for SP”.