Shivpal Yadav appoints new faces in SP frontal youth wings

Samajwadi Party (SP) state unit chief Shivpal Singh Yadav on Saturday appointed presidents of its four frontal organisations, including the youth wing whose leaders he had earlier booted out of the party for "anti-party activities".

 

According to a party spokesman, Anil Verma has been named president of the Lohia Vahini, Vijay Yadav as state president of the SP Youth brigade and Farhat Hasan president of the minority wing.

 

Student leader from Lucknow University Abhishek Singh 'Ashu' has been given charge of the SP Yuvjan Sabha.

 

Ashu, who is a resident of Azamgarh, is a popular leader among students and youth.

 

Party spokesman Deepak Mishra said the new appointees have been asked to work in the best interests of the party and given these posts based on their track record of struggle and experience.

 

The development is being seen as a further snub to Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, who is locked in a bitter power struggle with his uncle Shivpal and has been demanding revoking of the expulsion of youth leaders close to him.

 

Party MLC Udayveer Singh, a close confidant of Akhilesh Yadav, was on Saturday expelled from the party for six years for writing a letter to SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav asking him to step down and instead make his son the national president of the Samajwadi Party.

 

Party veterans were busy throughout the day trying to call a truce between Mulayam Singh and Akhilesh.

 

Senior party leaders Reoti Raman Singh, Beni Prasad Verma, Naresh Agrawal and Kironmoy Nanda were closeted with Mulayam during the day and drove to meet Akhilesh in the evening.

 

Sources said the party seniors were "making a last ditch attempt" to bring normalcy between the father and the son, but "with developments every hour, hopes are very bleak". - IANS