Shivpal Singh Yadav.
Credit: PTI File Photo
Mainpuri: Senior Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Yadav has said his relationship with Anujesh Yadav, the BJP candidate for the Karhal assembly bypoll, was "over".
Anujesh Yadav is married to Sandhya Yadav, the sister of Dharmendra Yadav -- the Samajwadi Party's Azamgarh MP and a cousin of party chief Akhilesh Yadav.
Anujesh Yadav and his wife quit the Samajwadi Party and joined the BJP several years ago.
As campaigning for bypolls in nine assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh intensified, Shival Yadav said during an election meeting in the Ghiror block of Mainpuri district on Sunday that his relationship with Anujesh Yadav was over.
Anujesh Yadav should first return the BJP ticket, Shivpal Yadav had said and added that only then he might be taken back in the Samajwadi Party.
This prompted a sharp response from Anujesh Yadav, who on Monday questioned Shivpal Yadav's own return to the Samajwadi Party despite being "insulted" by his nephew Akhilesh Yadav.
He also asked Shivpal Yadav to join the BJP.
The BJP has fielded Anujesh Yadav against the Samajwadi Party's Tej Pratap Singh Yadav, a nephew of Akhilesh Yadav.
The Karhal seat fell vacant after the resignation of Akhilesh Yadav upon his election to the Lok Sabha.
During Sunday's meeting in the presence of Samajwadi Party MPs Dimple Yadav and Dharmendra Yadav, Shivpal Yadav also alleged the BJP was not seeking votes from the people but telling the police and the administration to get its candidate elected.
The senior Samajwadi Party leader also claimed the BJP never did any work but made claims about eradicating poverty and providing jobs.
The fact is families are facing hardships running their households since most jobs are being given out on contract, he added.
Meanwhile, responding to Shivpal Yadav's remarks, Anujesh Yadav said on Monday, "Akhilesh Yadav insulted his 'chacha (uncle)' and had said that he would never take him back. Then why did he (Shivpal Yadav) rejoin the Samajwadi Party?" He also urged Shivpal Yadav to join the BJP. He added that the saffron party had given him respect and he would never return to the Samajwadi Party.
Karhal is located four kilometres away from Akhilesh Yadav's native Saifai village in Etawah district. The constituency is part of Dimple Yadav's Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat.
The seat has been a stronghold of the Samajwadi Party since 1993.
Bypolls to nine assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh will be held on November 13 and the results declared on November 23.