Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Friday expelled his son and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and his cousin Ram Gopal Yadav from the party for six years. The Samajwadi Party chief said both Akhilesh and Ram Gopal have been sacked for weakening the party. Mulayam also accused Ram Gopal Yadav of hurting the interests of chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and misleading him.

The SP supremo also hit out at Akhilesh Yadav for siding with Ram Gopal Yadav in the party infighting.

” Akhilesh does not understand+ that Ram Gopal is trying to destroy his future,” Mulayam said.

“I made Akhilesh chief minister… and now he does not even consult me,” said the father as he announced the son’s expulsion, adding that he was sacking the son to “save the party.” Mr Singh would not immediately say who will be chief minister in place of Akhilesh Yadav. Elections in UP are expected to be announced any day now.

Hundreds of party workers supporters have gathered outside Akhilesh Yadav’s Lucknow residence raising slogans in his support. All eyes are now on a party meeting called by Akhilesh Yadav through uncle Ram Gopal on Sunday, January 1. Sources said about 80 per cent of the Samajwadi party’s 224 lawmakers in the UP assembly support Akhilesh Yadav and are likely to turn up.

It was earlier this week when Mulayam Singh announced a list of candidates for the UP elections that excluded several of Akhilesh Yadav’s key aides, including some ministers. It included many candidates recommended by Shivpal Yadav, who replaced Akhilesh as the party’s UP chief recently, some of them with criminal records whose nomination the chief minister had fiercely opposed.

Akhilesh Yadav first attempted to convince his father to reconsider his decision and then released a parallel list of 235 candidates on Thursday.

Today, Mulayam Singh Yadav issued a show cause notice asking his son why disciplinary action should not be taken against him for releasing that list. Less than an hour later, he sacked him. Only the party chief can call an emergency meeting, Mulayam Singh said, appealing to party workers not to attend.

In the first reaction from his son’s camp, Ram Gopal Yadav, known as Professor in the party, threw the rulebook at Mulayama Singh, accusing him of acting against the constitution of the party. He said Sunday’s meeting is on.