Shivpal Yadav sacked from UP Cabinet?

Lucknow : Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav dismissed his uncle Shivpal Yadav and four other ministers from his Cabinet on Sunday, sources said.
Akhilesh is also believed to have sacked four other ministers — Narad Rai, Om Prakash, Shadab Fatima, Gayatri Prasad Prajapati — all considered close to Shivpal Singh Yadav, who is also the state unit chief of the Samajwadi Party (SP).
“The CM said in the meeting that whoever is close to Amar Singh cannot be in my cabinet,” an MLA, Raju Yadav, said, quoting Akhilesh at a meeting of legislators at the party office in Lucknow.The news comes as the divide within the party becomes clearer, even leading to speculations of a possible split before next year’s assembly elections. The Samajwadi Party had recently suspended first time MLC Udayveer Singh — who is believed to be a close aide of Akhilesh — for six years for indiscipline and anti-party activities after he asked national president Mulayam Singh Yadav to step down in favour of his son. Fault lines within the party were laid bare last month when Mulayam Singh replaced Akhilesh with Shivpal as the party’s state president, fuelling the already-growing differences between his son and his brother. Akhilesh was forced to accept his father’s decision, but also indicated in a statement that he blamed Amar Singh for the divide.