Mapping the Shivpal saga, lone journey of Mulayam Singh Yadav’s faithful ally

He was the most powerful minister in Uttar Pradesh after Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, and he kept that position for a little more than four years. His choice prevailed in the appointments made in the lower bureaucracy, state police and at least half a dozen departments. He was the name to reckon with when it came to getting things done.

This was Shivpal Yadav, the once-powerful politician of Samajwadi Party who represented whatever the party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav stood for. Shivpal was, and continues to be, the undisputed ally of Mulayam for decades. He was the second most powerful man in SP during the Mulayam era.

But this equation started changing in the summer of 2016. As Akhilesh Yadav started finding his own space and made tentative efforts to assert his position, Shivpal was the first to feel the impact. He was forced to comment at a public gathering in Etawah in July that he was unhappy with some elements in the Government who were indulging in anti-social and anti-party activities. And then started a series of events that culminated in the formal transition of the party’s control into Akhilesh’s hands, and left Shivpal with nothing but a rueful recollection of what he had done for brother Mulayam, the party and nephew Akhilesh.