Mulayam calls off SP’s Jan 5 convention

Lucknow, Jan 2 (IANS) Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav on Monday cancelled the national convention called by him on January 5, SP leader Shivpal Singh Yadav said in a tweet.

Shivpal Singh, the younger brother of the SP patriarch also stated that the decision to call off the Thursday convention at the Janeshwar Mishra park in the Uttar Pradesh capital was Mulayam Singh's call.

Shivpal Singh, who was booted out by the Akhilesh Yadav-led faction, also informed that the party supremo had asked workers to go out and work for the party in the forthcoming state assembly elections.

On Sunday, in a coup of sorts, UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav had removed his father as the national president of the party and replaced him at an emergency national convention, convened by his uncle, mentor and Rajya Sabha member Ram Gopal Yadav.

The convention had also sacked Shivpal Singh as the UP unit chief of the party and expelled Mulayam confidante Amar Singh from the party.

Mulayam Singh Yadav had hit back by expelling Rajya Sabha members -- Ram Gopal Yadav, Naresh Agarwal and party Vice President Kironmoy Nanda, who presided over the convention, which he had termed as "illegal and unconstitutional".