Lucknow: All eyes are set on September 21, the day when Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav addresses the Ram Manohar Lohia Trust meeting. Apart from Shivpal Yadav, Akhilesh and Ramgopal are also members of the trust.
In August this year, Akhilesh had skipped a meeting in which Mulayam had sacked 4 of his loyalists. The question is: will Mulayam sack Akhilesh and Ramgopal from the trust?
An MLC considered close to Mulayam Singh claims that September 21 is the day when Mulayam will sound the war cry. Mulayam loyalist will start sitting at the Lohia Trust office, about 200 meters from the SP headquarters on Vikram Divya Marg in Lucknow.
By Navratra, the MLC claims, Mulayam's strategy will be out in the open. He is also expected to hold a press conference in the next few days to announce his next move.
A few days ago Shivpal and Mulayam had a meeting that lasted more than an hour. Sources told CNN-News18 that several top leaders have contacted Mulayam and Shivpal's office has been a busy one.
When Mulayam was removed from the post of party president on January 1, 2017, it left many puzzled. The perplexed lot was not able to discern if it was an Akhilesh-led coup or a Machiavellian succession plan, blessed by Mulayam himself.
A lot has happened since then. The loss of Mulayam camp in the succession battle at the Election Commission's office, a humiliating defeat under the leadership of Akhilesh in the UP election, followed by Mulayam's jibes at his son, everything has not been hunky-dory in the Yadav parivar.
Tensions simmered between Akhilesh and his estranged uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav even before Assembly election, with uncle trenchantly criticising his nephew and threatening to quit the party. Mulayam, on the other hand, oscillated; sometimes suggesting a crusade against his own son, sometimes backing off.
Sources in the Shivpal camp claim that Neta Ji could force his way back to the presidency of the Samajwadi party or float a venture of his own.
As the party heads to its National Convention on October 5, to deal with organisation's leadership issues, many say it's time Mulayam acted. Akhilesh has made it clear that he is no mood to let go the post of party's national president.
He doesn't seem to be conceding grounds. The proforma for the delegate card of the state conference on September 25 didn't have a Mulayam photo, while Dimple Yadav, party vice-president Kiran Moy Banda, General Secretary Ram Gopal Yadav and Azam Khan made it.
Recently, when he was quizzed over the succession of the party, Akhilesh said that there was no relevance of such questions.
Mulayam, however, had maintained a steady silence even when Akhilesh and Shivpal traded barbs at each other.
While the moves are visible in the Mulayam camp, nothing can be said about his future stand with certainty. Will Mulayam float a party of his own or seek some concessions from Akhilesh for his brother Shivpal? The question remains.
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