Mulayam, Akhilesh Yadav share stage first time after feud

LUCKNOW: Former UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav shared the stage on Thursday, giving rise to speculation that the two had resolved their differences. This was the first public appearance of Mulayam and his son together at any SP event after Akhilesh became the party chief for the first time on January 1. Mulayam’s younger brother Shivpal Yadav, however, chose to stay away from the function.
The reunion of sorts took place at Lohia Park in the morning where Mulayam and Akhilesh had gone to pay floral tributes to the socialist ideologue Ram Manohar Lohia on his death anniversary.Talking to media at the event, Mulayam announced that the Yadav clan has always been united and will remain so. “Pariwar ek tha, ek hai aur ek rahega (The family was together and will always remain united),” he said in response to a media query on whether differences within the Yadav clan had been resolved. Mulayam’s announcement saw SP workers raised slogans like “Mulayam Singh Yadav...Akhilesh Yadav zindabad,” till Mulayam asked them to stop.
Around 10am, along with Shivpal, Mulayam reached Lohia Trust to pay tributes to the socialist leader, after which he reached Lohia Park where he was joined by senior SP leaders including Ram Govind Chaudhary, Ahmad Hasan and others. Hasan and Chaudhary—who is now the leader of opposition in UP Assembly—had both sided with Akhilesh when the family feud within the Yadav clan became public in September 2016.