Will Mulayam Singh Yadav-Akhilesh come together at Samajwadi Party meet?

LUCKNOW: To be held in Agra on Thursday, the Samajwadi Party’s national convention promises to be historical in more ways than one.
To begin with, for the first time since SP came into being in 1992, party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav might not be a part of the event. The convention will also witness Akhilesh Yadav being elected as SP national president for the next five years, putting an end to all possibilities of rapprochement between warring factions within the party.
Though Mulayam had announced at a press conference in Lucknow last week that he would not attend the event, if he does, it will be the first time that he will share the stage with Akhilesh after being toppled from the post of SP chief by his son on January 1.
Now, Akhilesh loyalists believe his election as party chief for the next five years will do away with any scope for taking back Mulayam as the party chief, a demand that Shivpal has put up as a pre-condition to any truce in the Yadav clan.
Political analysts see the convention as the last opportunity of any compromise between the warring factions of the Yadav clan where, Akhilesh and uncle Ram Gopal find themselves pitted against Mulayam and his younger brother Shivpal on the other side.
That the two sides are showing no signs of softening their stance can be gauged from the fact that neither Mulayam nor Shivpal was invited to the convention till late on Tuesday evening. Last week, when Akhilesh went to meet Mulayam, there was speculation that he had gone to invite the SP patriarch for the Agra meet, but senior party leaders denied such reports.
“At the convention, Akhilesh Yadav will be elected party president for five years,” said SP vice president Kiranmoy Nanda. According to the party’s existing constitution, the tenure of SP chief is three years. But the new constitution, which will be adopted at the convention, allows the election of an SP national president for a five-year term. This means Akhilesh will not only lead the party in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections but also the 2022 assembly polls in UP.
The convention, at Taar Ghar grounds in Agra Cantonment, is expected to be attended by 15,000 delegates from all over the country. It will begin with flag hoisting by party chief Akhilesh Yadav at 9am on Thursday. This will be followed by his welcome address after which political and economic resolutions will be discussed. A day before the convention, the party will hold a meeting of its national executive on Wednesday.