Rebel Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Shivpal Yadav on Saturday said he will field his elder brother and SP Patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav as the candidate of his Samajwadi Secular Morcha (SSM) for the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat in the 2019 polls.
Shivpal’s announcement comes against the backdrop of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav hinting on several occasions that Mulayam would contest the upcoming general elections on an SP ticket. Shivpal and Akhilesh have been engaged in a bitter family feud for over two years now. “If netaji (Mulayam) agrees, then he will be made the national president of the morcha,” Shivpal said.
Shivpal, who floated the SSM last month, said the proposed alliance between the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) ahead of next year’s Lok Sabha polls should include his outfit too.
“The morcha can win 20 to 30 seats in the Lok Sabha polls. If the (SP-BSP) alliance does not include the morcha, it (morcha) will contest on all 80 seats in UP,” Shivpal said to media at his Lucknow house.
Shivpal also said he will soon apply to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to register a new party, its name, flag, and seek an election symbol.
First Published: Sep 15, 2018 21:55 IST
Source: HindustanTimes