Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya has hit out at the Samajwadi Party over Shivpal Yadav's reunion with his nephew Akhilesh Yadav ahead of the Mainpuri Lok Sabha bypoll, saying the Yadav family knows best whether the unity would last.

The senior BJP leader claimed that the people have made up their minds to end dynastic politics. Batting for BJP candidate Raghuraj Singh Shakya, Maurya said people have sympathy for Mulayam Singh Yadav but they would not vote for the Samajwadi Party in the bypoll.

The Samajwadi Party has Dimple Yadav, the wife of party chief Akhilesh Yadav, for the December 5 Mainpuri Lok Sabha bypoll necessitated following the death of Mulayam Singh Yadav. To a question whether he felt that the Yadav family will remain united after the elections, Maurya told PTI, "It is their matter. But, it's clear that the people of Mainpuri have made up their minds to cast aside dynastic politics."

The relationship between uncle and nephew had gone sour in 2016 with the sacking of Shivpal Singh Yadav, who was then a state minister, by Akhilesh Yadav when he was the chief minister. They parted ways in 2017 when Akhilesh Yadav became the Samajwadi Party president.

Shivpal Singh Yadav formed Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohiya) in 2018. The duo joined hands before the 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly polls. But after that their relationship again went sour with the latter alleging neglect within the party.

Since Shivpal Singh Yadav parted ways with the SP, there were rumours that he might be joining the BJP. Though he denied it every time, the allotment of a bungalow for his party by the BJP government fuelled speculations.

After Mulayam Singh Yadav's younger daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav, considered close to the Shivpal Singh Yadav camp, joined BJP, speculations went rife about his closeness to the ruling party. Even after the Mainpuri bypoll was declared, some news reports suggested that it was Shivpal Singh Yadav who ensured a BJP ticket for his one-time close associate Raghuraj Shakya.

The reunion process began after Shivpal Yadav's name was declared by the SP as its star campaigner for Mainpuri and the latter asked his party workers to ensure a victory for Dimple Yadav. It was followed by a meeting of both Akhilesh Yadav and his wife Dimple with Shivpal Yadav seeking his blessings.

"There is a feeling of sympathy towards 'Netaji' (Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav) and people have paid glowing tributes to him after his demise. "But, they are not ready to vote for Akhilesh Yadav's party (Samajwadi Party) or its candidate (Dimple Yadav)," Maurya told PTI in Mainpuri.

Maurya exuded confidence about the BJP winning the bypoll with a big margin. The Mainpuri parliamentary constituency has five assembly segments -- Mainpuri, Bhogaon, Kishni, Karhal and Jaswant Nagar. In the 2022 assembly elections, the SP won the Karhal, Kishni and Jaswant Nagar seats, while the BJP won the Mainpuri and the Bhogaon seats.

Akhilesh's Karhal assembly seat is part of the Mainpuri Lok Sabha constituency and so is Jaswant Nagar, which is represented by Shivpal Yadav.?

(With PTI Inputs)