Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav expelled on Friday Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and general secretary Ramgopal Yadav from the party for six years over alleged indiscipline.
Mulayam’s shock move came a day after Akhilesh, his son, finalised a list of 235 candidates for the upcoming assembly polls in defiance with the party, which had announced its own picks and snubbed some leaders considered close to the CM.
More live updates here:
9:09pm: CM to meet his supporters tomorrow at 12 noon
9:06pm: Akhilesh leaves his office on 5 Kalidas Marg from the rear gate
9pm: More details on the two Shivpal supporters Akhilesh dropped: UP CM replaced senior minister Manpal Singh Verma, the MLA from Kasganj, with Ishrat Ullah Khan. On Karhal seat (Mainpuri), Akhilesh dropped sitting MLA and senior party leader Sovaran Singh Yadav and fielded his nephew, Anshul Yadav. For Patiyali seat (Kasganj), Akhilesh gave ticket to Kiran Yadav. Jogendra Singh Yadav gets Etah seat candidature
8:59pm: People being asked to make way for the chief minister’s cavalcade as Akhilesh Yadav wants to leave his office. However, supporters have blocked the way
8:58pm: UP CM Akhilesh Yadav directs DGP Jawed Ahmad to ensure adequate security outside Mulayam Singh Yadav and Shivpal Yadav’s residence: ANI
8:40pm: Akhilesh Yadav loyalists burn images of Amar Singh and Shivpal Yadav in Varanasi in protest of his expulsion from the party
8:35pm: SP leader Rahul Singh, who attempted suicide, rushed to hospital. Director general of police (DGP) Jawed Ahmad also reaches chief minister’s residence
Lucknow: UP DGP Javeed Ahmed reaches CM Akhilesh Yadav’s residence to meet him. pic.twitter.com/XEqlOiSdDq
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP)December 30, 2016
8:31pm: UP governor Ram Naik says he’s keeping a close eye on the situation in Lucknow, but says developments are an internal matter of the Samajwadi Party
8:30pm: Akhilesh Yadav drops two Shivpal Yadav supporters from his list of candidates and announces tickets on two more seats
8:27pm: SP leader Rahul Singh attempts suicide by pouring kerosene on himself in front of the chief minister’s residence. Singh was seeking a ticket from Lucknow East
8:23pm: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav calls for a meeting with all party MLAs at 9 am on December 31: ANI
8:15pm: As crowds continues to throng outside the UP chief minister’s residence, small scuffles break out
8pm: Police deployed around Akhilesh Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav’s residences: TV reports
7:54pm: Upset supporters of Akhilesh Yadav stage angry protests outside Mulayam Singh Yadav’s residence: PTI
7:48pm: Congress avoided commenting on the developments in the SP. “There is situation of political instability in UP; it’s worrisome for democracy.. (but) we don’t comment on internal division of any party,” Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala says: PTI
7:45pm: BJP’s Shrikant Sharma says the in-fighting in Samajwadi Party is scripted, meant to :divert” attention from Akhilesh’s “all-round failures of his government”: PTI
7:44pm: “In family-centered parties, if the family breaks up, the party also falls apart,” BJP’s national secretary Shrikant Sharma says
7:43pm: Party workers supporting the UP chief minister tear up posters of Shivpal Yadav, the Samajwadi Party’s state president
7:30pm: Supporters of Akhilesh Yadav gather outside his official residence. Women cry as news of the UP chief minister’s ouster from the party spreads
#WATCH Supporters gather outside Akhilesh Yadav’s residence, raise slogans in his support after SP Chief expelled him for 6 years from party pic.twitter.com/x5OFePsLVD
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP)December 30, 2016
7:25pm: Want to urge party workers to come to RM Lohiya University on January 1 at 11am to discuss as to how to stop those doing wrong in party: ANI quotes Ramgopal Yadav as saying
7:20pm: Will know who is more acceptable among the public come elections, says Ramgopal
7:14pm: Netaji does not know the constitution of the party well, says Ramgopal Yadav
7:12pm: This is unconstitutional as both of us were expelled 2 hours after they gave the notice & without listening to our answers: Ramgopal Yadav
This is unconstitutional as both of us were expelled 2 hours after they gave the notice & without listening to our answers: Ram Gopal Yadav pic.twitter.com/ZjfebQ2crT
— ANI (@ANI_news)December 30, 2016
7:10pm: Those who are not even members of the party are now being given tickets to contest, says Ramgopal
7pm: Akhilesh expected to make a press statement after his father and party president expels him from Samajwadi Party
6:58pm: I have worked really hard to make this party, what was their role in this? I work hard and they reap the fruits?: ANI quotes Mulayam Singh Yadav as saying
6:50pm: Throngs of Akhilesh supporters gather outside the chief minister’s official residence
6:49pm: For us party is the most important and our priority is to save the party: SP Chief Mulayam Singh Yadav
To save the party, we have expelled both Ram Gopal and Akhilesh Yadav for six years from the party: SP Chief Mulayam Singh Yadav pic.twitter.com/dzJZTft0lk
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP)December 30, 2016
6:38pm: Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh announces expulsion of his son Akhilesh Yadav and cousin Ramgopal Yadav from the party for six years
Source: HindustanTimes