The two allies of Samajwadi Party, Rajbhar and shivpal Yadav have quit, leaving it in disarray

The Samajwadi Party led by Akhilesh Yadav is still grappling with its defeat in the assembly elections. Nonetheless, its chief Akhilesh Yadav is in no mood to accommodate leaders who could challenge his authority or his decisions now or in the future. The Samajwadi Party that has ruled Uttar Pradesh is indeed struggling and finding it difficult to keep its allies along. Recent open letters to Shivpal Yadav and Om PrakashRajbhar are a case in point which led to the exit of its two important allies.

In the open letter, the Samajwadi Party had asked them to leave the alliance if they could command more respect elsewhere. Both soon after obliged. It is noteworthy that both Rajbhar and Shivpal Yadav had joined hands with the Samajwadi party to give a united fight against Yogi Adityanath. The alliance however failed to garner enough votes to dislodge the BJP government in the state.

The blame game started and Rajbhar openly criticized Akhilesh Yadav saying he shouldn’t be sitting in the AC room and must get in touch with the people. This didn’t go well with Akhilesh who had toiled hard and gave a tough fight to the BJP.

The last straw must have been the dinner hosted by Yogi Aditynath for NDA’s presidential candidate which both Shivpal Yadav and Om PrakashRajbhar attended. Their support for Droupadi Murmu was seen by Akhilesh as defiance.

It is no secret that Om PrakashRajbhar is close to the BJP and has a good rapport with its leaders. On the other hand, it is more of an ego tussle with Uncle Shivpal Yadav. Rajbhar's Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party has six MLAs in the UP assembly. 

Shivpal Yadav had earlier criticized Akhilesh Yadav for not inviting him to party meetings and had held him responsible for the sorry state of affairs. Shivpal Yadav heads the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party-Lohia. He was powerful in Akhilesh Yadav's government in UP. He formed his own party but returned to SP before the 2022 assembly polls. Now the two of them would be at cross purpose with the Samajwadi Party

The departure of two is a big blow to the Samajwadi party but may not be the end of the road for it as its roots go deep. It may be down but is certainly not out. The legacy of Mulayam Singh Yadav that Akhilesh inherits will not wane so fast. Samajwadi party perhaps is the only party in Uttar Pradesh that can take on the BJP and give it a run for the money. But to do that it must set its house in order first.