Shivpal Yadav on warpath with nephew Akhilesh Yadav after months of peace, calls him 'politically immature'

Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party chief Shivpal Singh Yadav, who had made peace with his nephew Akhilesh Yadav before the UP Assembly elections, launched a fresh salvo at the Samajwadi Party chief on Saturday, a day after attending a dinner hosted by UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in honour of the NDA presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu. Yadav accused his nephew of "political immaturity" and said he would vote for Murmu in the upcoming presidential elections.

Apart from Yadav, the dinner was attended by another SP ally, Om Prakash Rajbhar, and the influential independent candidate Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya and BSP's Uma Shankar Singh. 

Shivpal Yadav said the Samajwadi Party's strength has been dissipating due to Akhilesh Yadav's political immaturity. He said many senior party leaders have been quitting SP because of him.

He said he had announced he would vote for whoever approaches him first. 

"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," said the PSP chief.

Shivpal, who had contested and won the UP polls on the Samajwadi Party ticket, claimed he was not invited by Yadav for the party's official meetings. He said he was not even invited to meet Yashwant Sinha, the Opposition's presidential candidate. 

"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. 

SP is backing Sinha in the presidential polls. Political experts say Murmu's win is a foregone conclusion as the NDA has enough votes after BJD's support. 

With inputs from ANI