Is Amar Singh behind Shivpal's elevation as poll in-charge?

Lucknow: Has Amar Singh started to call the shots in Samajwadi Party (SP) again. It may not be true but the coincidence suggests otherwise.

If SP insiders are to be believed, Amar Singh was in Lucknow on Monday and he met the Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and party general secretary Shivpal Singh Yadav before flying back to Delhi. It was just after his departure that party president Mulayam Singh Yadav declared Shivpal as the election in charge to the surprise of party men and outsiders.

Amar Singh as strategist:

• Sources claimed that Amar Singh may not have been on the party's roll call as yet but he has already assumed the role of a strategist in view of 2017 assembly polls.
• He had recently hosted a party in Delhi to celebrate the marriage of Shivpal's son.

Shivpal managed to remain away from controversies:

• Shivpal Singh, brother of Mulayam Singh Yadav, managed to keep himself away from controversies during the last four years of Akhilesh government.
• The name of other family heavyweight Ram Gopal Yadav and his son Akshay Yadav may have surfaced in Yadav Singh's case but Shivpal remained non-controversial.

Panchayat poll management:

• Sources said that Mulayam was particularly happy with Shivpal's handling of Panchayat elections.
• The party did reasonably well in Panchayat polls and that too without much controversy.
• The manner in which SP youth brigade leaders Sunil Yadav and Anand Bhadauria were shown the door was also a bold decision by Shivpal, much to the chagrin of Akhilesh.

Infighting during MLC election:

• The infighting which came to the fore during MLC elections was also a cause of worry for the party leadership.
• There was a lot of under-cutting in Meerut, Gorakhpur and Rae Bareli.
• Somebody with mature organisational sense was the need of the hour, hence Shivpal was chosen.

Shivpal will decide candidates:

• It is believed that Shivpal in consultation with Mulayam will decide the candidates for assembly polls.
• He will also scrutinise the list of candidates and send it to the party president.

Also read: Mulayam stuns, makes Shivpal in-charge of 2017 UP Assly polls