Akhilesh Yadav re-elected as Samajwadi Party national chief; Mulayam, Shivpal skip meet

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav was on Thursday unanimously re-elected as the party's national president for a five-year term.

This announcement was made by senior SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav at the SP national convention.

The SP has witnessed a bitter feud between Akhilesh and Shivpal and this infighting adversely affected the party during the UP Assembly polls earlier this year.

While Akhilesh (44) maintained that he enjoyed the blessings of his 77-year-old father, Mulayam on his part corroborated it days later saying, "My blessings are with him (Akhilesh Yadav) as he is my son, though I don't agree with his decisions."

Both Mulayam and Shivpal gave a miss to the SP event just as they had stayed away from the state executive meeting of the party in Lucknow on September 23.

Akhilesh had personally invited his father for the national convention.

On Wednesday, Akhilesh Yadav had said that he got the benefit of his age and relation. "He (Shivpal) gave me blessings and congratulated me also," he added

Now that 44-year-old Akhilesh will remain at the helm for five years, the 2019 Lok Sabha and state Assembly elections in 2022 will be held under his presidentship. 

(With PTI inputs)