SP number two to a general secretary: Will latest appointment be enough for Shivpal Yadav?

But the veteran leader now finds himself as one of the 14 SP general secretaries, his name fifth on the list released by the party. Among the others appointed SP general secretary are former Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leaders Ram Achal Rajbhar, Lalji Verma and Indrajeet Saroj, and former minister in the BJP government Swami Prasad Maurya (who also had a long stint in the BSP). All these leaders are comparatively recent entrants in the SP, having joined the party in the run-up to the Assembly elections last year.

“It is shocking for the workers of the PSL (Lohia) who returned to SP with Shivpal to see that he is only one of 14 general secretaries. Also, he is in a position equivalent to turncoats like Swami Prasad Maurya, who is drawing criticism for the party following his remarks on Ramcharitmanas and saints,” said an SP leader who was earlier with Shivpal’s Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia), or PSP(L).

The party functionary added, “Shivpal’s son Aditya was the PSP(L) UP state president, played important role in reuniting the family and he was with Dimple Yadav (SP MP and Akhilesh Yadav’s wife) during the entire campaign for the Mainpuri bypoll. While he has not been given space in the national executive, other members of the Yadav grand family, including Dharmendra Yadav, Tej Pratap Yadav, and Akshay Yadav have been made members of the team.”

Akshay Yadav is the son of the party’s principal general secretary Ramgopal Yadav who had sided with Akhilesh when the family feud was at its peak in 2016-’17. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Shivpal contested against Akshay from Firozabad and damaged his chances by polling 91,869 votes. The margin between Akshay and the BJP candidate who won was 28,781 votes.

SP spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary said the national executive was a balanced team. Asked about Shivpal, Chaudhary said the post of national general secretary was an important one. Asked about the comparison with the others in the committee who had joined from the BSP, the spokesperson said, “Shivpal ji is senior to them in the party.”

Man of organisation

This is the first time Shivpal will hold a position in the national executive committee. Before quitting the SP half a decade ago, he was the party’s state president but Akhilesh replaced him with Naresh Uttam Patel ahead of the 2017 Assembly elections.

But the return of the six-term Jaswantnagar MLA was paved with the massive victory for Dimple Yadav from the party stronghold of Mainpuri, which Mulayam represented till his death last October, in a Lok Sabha bypoll. The SP received the highest lead from Jaswantnagar, which is one of the Assembly segments in Mainpuri.

During his brother’s tenure, Shivpal was known as an “organisation man”. In November 2013, Mulayam even chose him to manage the party’s affairs in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections. He was known for his regular interactions with the party cadre and frequent tours across the state. According to SP insiders, this made him invaluable to Mulayam.