TIL Desk/National/Lucknow/ Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh on Friday denied he was a “hurdle” in Akhilesh Yadav’s path and indirectly blamed the UP Chief Minister’s “supporter” and uncle Ramgopal Yadav for the vertical split in the party. “Status of one is not gauged just by number or power. I want to clarify that I am no hurdle in the path of Akhilesh Yadav,” Singh told. Favouring a patch-up between the two factions of SP, he said, “Whatever is happening in the party is not because of me but because of a supporter of Akhilesh.”
His hint was towards Ramgopal Yadav, whom he did not name. Since the trouble in Uttar Pradesh’s ruling party became public, Akhilesh has been insisting on sidelining or expulsion of Singh, whom Ramgopal and another senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan have dubbed an “outsider” in the party. Singh, however, said, “One gets hurt by one’s own and not by outsiders. It’s difficult to fight own people.”
On Akhilesh faction’s claim of possessing signed affidavits of 212 MLAs, Singh said, “Mulayam Singh Yadav is alone and without any stature. I don’t have the capacity to hear this.” Akhilesh and Mulayam have apparently been contesting for control of the party, with both of them readying documents of support to stake claim to the party’s ‘cycle’ symbol.
