SP headed for split as Mulayam serves show cause notice to Akhilesh

ArrayLucknow, Dec 31 : The political crisis in the Samajwadi Party (SP) deepened on Friday, with party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav serving a show cause notice to his son, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, for indiscipline and the Akhilesh faction calling for an emergency meeting to lend direction to the ruling party, which appeared on the verge of a split.

In a brief letter shot-off to Akhilesh, signed by Mulayam, the SP chief pointed out how despite an official list of party candidates being issued by him at a press conference on Wednesday, a "parallel list" was issued by the Chief Minister.

Terming this act as indiscipline, Mulayam asked the 43-year-old Chief Minister to explain his conduct and has asked why no action should be taken against him.

A separate show cause notice was also served on SP General Secretary Ram Gopal Yadav, who has thrown his lot behind Akhilesh

Earlier, Ram Gopal Yadav called an "emergency convention" of the party workers on Sunday.

He said that the Akhilesh government was "doing fine" and some people have "restored to deliberately malign the party ahead of the assembly elections" due early next year.

"There are apprehensions that it will cause losses to the party."

This, sources told IANS, was seen by the party leadership as an attempt to upstage Mulayam in a coup of sorts since the SP chief had already called a meeting of his party candidates on Saturday.

Political observers here feel that the SP was heading for an imminent split now and some apprehend that Mulayam this time might take the extreme step of showing his son the door.

Ram Gopal Yadav had earlier in the day conceded that chances of a compromise were now dim.