Shivpal Yadav to sit next to Akhilesh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh assembly

LUCKNOW: In what is being seen as an indication of his growing stature within the Samajwadi Party, Shivpal Yadav will now sit next to Bhatija and party president Akhilesh Yadav, who is also the leader of the opposition in the state assembly.
The seat was earlier allotted to Azam Khan and was vacant since he lost his assembly membership following his conviction in a criminal case.Shivpal's elevation in the party has put to rest speculations that Chacha-Bhatija bonhomie may not last till the 2024 assembly polls.
Sources said Shivpal will soon be allotted a room at the party headquarters, next to where Mulayam Singh Yadav used to sit.
Though Shivpal has always contested and won assembly elections as SP MLA, earlier he was not assigned a seat in any of the front rows of the opposition side in the assembly. In fact, after the 2022 assembly polls, Akhilesh had written a letter to the assembly speaker seeking a front row seat for Shivpal but the move was not attended to.
However, things have changed much ever since Shivpal and Akhilesh joined hands in the run-up to the Mainpuri Lok Sabha bypoll, during which Shivpal was formally inducted into the SP by Akhilesh. The SP had then announced that Shivpal’s close political associates, too, will be given positions of honour and respect within SP. Shivpal, too, had removed the signboard of Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party – Lohia (PSP-L), of which he was the founding president, from his party office.
Thereafter, Akhilesh had called on Shivpal twice at his residence in Lucknow where the two leaders discussed issues related to reconstitution of the party’s national executive. He was appointed as one of the general secretaries. During this meeting, the two had discussed the party’s strategy to approach the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Recently, Akhilesh visited Shivpal at his house in Lucknow and discussed the appointment of the state executive and party’s district president. Sources said the SP chief was keen to appoint quite a few leaders close to Shivpal in the state executive committee and as district presidents as well.