Lucknow: Days after SP-BSP triumph in UP bypolls, the Samajwadi Party is all geared up for a dinner party at a five-star hotel in the state capital on Wednesday evening, where nearly 200 members of the party will be present. While celebrations may not come as a surprise, the timing of the so-called dinner diplomacy has come under political spotlight.
The guest list of the dinner, being hosted two days before the Rajya Sabha polls, is even more interesting. The list includes SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, his brother Shivpal Yadav, cousin Ram Gopal Yadav and son Akhilesh, who were said to come together in the public for the first time since differences cropped up in the family ahead of the 2016 Assembly elections.
However, just a few hours before the dinner, Shivpal left for his hometown, Saifai. Earlier in the day, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav had called a meeting to discuss Rajya Sabha election, but Shivpal and six other MLAs remained absent from the meeting. Of the 47 MLAs, 40 were present in Wednesday's meeting.
According to reports, Shivpal Yadav has gone to Saifai for co-operative body elections. Meanwhile, SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav may also give the dinner a miss as he is unwell.
Another important guest this evening will be Independent MLA Raghuraj Pratap Singh, aka Raja Bhaiyya, who was a member of Akhilesh cabinet but had better relations with Mulayam Singh Yadav. His presence at the dinner will put to rest speculations over his voting for BJP in Rajya Sabha election along with his close aide and Babaganj MLA Vinod Saroj, who is also an Independent legislator.
The differences between Bhaiyya and Samjadwadi Party started doing rounds after the SP-BSP understanding for the recent bypolls, which irked the Thakur leader as he had been imprisoned during the BSP regime. Being well aware of this fact, the BJP has been trying to take advantage of the situation.
In fact, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has also called for a meeting of all party MLAs at his residence in the evening to chalk out the party’s strategy as it lacks numbers in the Rajya Sabha.
The Samajwadi Party dinner can be seen as an attempt by the party to keep all its members intact, especially after senior leader Naresh Agrawal joined BJP recently. Since then, Agrawal has been saying in press conferences that his son Nitin will also be joining BJP soon, making it clear that Nitin will be voting for the saffron camp.
Despite Nishad Party’s Chief Sanjay Nishad’s son Praveen Nishad winning Gorakhpur in the recent bypolls, its lone MLA Vijay Mishra has openly announced that he will vote for BJP in the tenth Rajya Sabha election.
Denying any political angle to the dinner, the host, SP MLA from Gauriganj, Rakesh Pratap Singh, described the event as a get together of ‘Samajwadi Parivar’.
“It is a celebration of party’s victory in recently concluded Lok Sabha bypolls in Gorakhpur and Phulpur,” he said refuting reports that the dinner was an event to consolidate the party’s position ahead of Rajya Sabha elections.
He said the idea came up during a meeting with SP president Akhilesh and senior leaders and claims choosing the invitees himself.
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