Akhilesh Yadav hands Mulayam his own list of 403 SP candidates

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav handed his father, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, his own list of candidates for all 403 assembly constituencies late on Sunday evening. The list, made up mainly of his loyalists, was drawn up for the 2017 assembly election and threatened a fresh round of conflict in the Yadav family and the ruling party.

Two lists, one party

With the Chief Minister and the party organisation each holding a separate set of names, the Samajwadi Party faced a confusing situation. The camp led by Mulayam and his brother Shivpal Yadav had already named 175 candidates over the previous three months without consulting Akhilesh.

In the feud, Mulayam and Shivpal were seen on one side, while Akhilesh had the backing of Ram Gopal Yadav, Mulayam’s cousin and the party’s general secretary.

Rath yatra hint

Akhilesh also signalled that he could restart his rath yatra. His move to put forward a list on his own was compared with his unexpected decision to start the yatra on October 5, which had left the party leadership, including his father, with little choice but to fall in line.

What happened next

In the 2017 Uttar Pradesh assembly election the BJP won 312 seats, the Samajwadi Party 47 and the BSP 19. Yogi Adityanath became Chief Minister.

See also: Samajwadi Party and members of the Uttar Pradesh assembly.

Originally published on 28 December 2016. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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