The ongoing feud in the Yadav clan took a fresh turn on Wednesday with former minister Shivpal Singh Yadav announcing the formation of a secular front named the Samajwadi Secular Front. He said the new front will act as a forum for all such people who have been ignored and neglected by the Samajwadi Party. It will also work towards coalescing smaller parties. The front will emerge as a viable political alternative in Uttar Pradesh.

Reacting to the development, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, who headed the SP government from 2012, chose to underplay the formation of a new front by his estranged uncle. He said as the Lok Sabha elections approach near such occurrences would take place. “The SP cycle (its poll symbol) will continue to move ahead. The need of the hour is to remain focussed,” he said.

Shivpal, who had been stripped of his ministry and all powers by Akhilesh in the run-up to the 2017 Vidhan Sabha polls, said he had been continuously ignored by the party. He was denied any important post and was neither called for any party meeting. This had hurt him tremendously. The trend of keeping Shivpal away from party’s affairs had started after he was sacked as a minister in December 2016. The constitution of the front was a step towards restoring the pride of those who had been ignored by the party, despite giving their all to it, Shivpal said.

READ | Shivpal Yadav floats Samajwadi Secular Morcha

Shivpal also made a mention of the recent observation of his elder brother and SP patron Mulayam Singh Yadav. The ageing leader and founder member of the SP at a function in Lucknow recently had said that no one accorded him any respect now. And, perhaps people will honour him after his demise, Mulayam had said.

Talks of Shivpal Singh Yadav forming a new front had gained ground when the intra-family feud had surfaced in the Yadav family. However no formal announcement had been made despite the drubbing received by the SP in the 2017 Vidhan Sabha polls. The issue remained under wraps till Wednesday, when the aggrieved leader went public about the secular front.

Prior to this announcement both Shivpal and Mulayam had held a couple of long drawn meetings, though the content and outcome of both the meets was not made public. It is being speculated that it may have had something to do with the formation of the Front.

Shivpal had also met UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath more than once in recent months. Dubbed as personal calls, the political import of the SP leader meeting the CM was not lost on any.

While Shivpal has said he will not join the BJP, political grapevine is ripe that he along with another former SP leader Amar Singh will be used by the saffron party to make a dent is the SP’s base vote bank, of the Yadavs. Singh has already launched a tirade against the Yadav family and its two important members Akhilesh and Mulayam. At a press conference in the state capital, he was at his vitriolic best against the SP’s Muslim mascot Mohammad Azam Khan.

Shivpal is known for his electoral organizational skills and was a key player in the elections contested by the SP under Mulayam Singh Yadav. His equation with the Yadavs in the Yadav belt of UP requires little recounting.

In addition to this, Shivpal is emerging as a rallying point for smaller outfits who are presently with the BJP, but are dissatisfied with it. The meeting with Om Prakash Rajbhar, president of the Suhaldev Bhartiya Samaj Party, and a minister in the Yogi Adityanath government, on Tuesday, is a pointer in the direction.