In SP chief whip’s resignation, Akhilesh’s balancing act in party’s Moradabad unit

As the SP begins preparing for the 2027 Assembly elections, ensuring coordination between organisational leaders and elected representatives is likely to remain a key organisational challenge. In a surprise move, Samajwadi Party MLA Kamal Akhtar on Tuesday resigned as the party’s chief whip in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly. Speaking to mediapersons, the MLA from Kanth said he resigned from the post at the direction of party president Akhilesh Yadav.“Changes take place in every party, and the organisation keeps on happening. There is no post that is permanent. There was a direction from my leader, Akhilesh Yadav, that you no longer have to continue in this post, and new people should get the opportunity. There is no resentment. I am a worker and would continue to work as one,” Akhtar said. Akhtar was appointed chief whip in July 2024 after the then chief whip, Manoj Pandey, rebelled during the Rajya Sabha elections and submitted his resignation. However, within the party, Akhtar’s resignation as chief whip is being seen as “more than a routine organisational change”. Party leaders said the decision was rooted in the growing friction between the party’s parliamentary and organisational leadership in Moradabad, with the SP chief Akhilesh Yadav trying to balance power equations in the region ahead of next year’s Assembly elections. SP leaders said that there were persistent complaints from Moradabad MP Ruchi Veera over the functioning of the party’s district unit. “Veera had repeatedly expressed displeasure to the leadership that local SP leaders and workers were taking instructions from senior MLAs, rather than coordinating with her, despite her being the Lok Sabha representative from Moradabad,” an SP leader said.Story continues below this ad While Akhtar on Tuesday tried to de-link issues raised by Veera and his resignation, saying they should not be mixed, the Moradabad MP said she had made the party chief aware of the ongoing situation in the district unit. “The SP chief knew about the indiscipline. He (Yadav) has been giving various directions to the party leaders for the upcoming Assembly elections, and he must have taken the step taken after giving much thought to it,” Veera added. Sources said that both the leaders were called to Lucknow by Akhilesh Yadav as allegations and counter-allegations were increasing. Party insiders, however, claimed that Akhtar had for some time expressed his desire to be relieved of the additional responsibility, and the Moradabad dispute provided the leadership an opportunity to reorganise responsibilities while addressing concerns raised by the local MP.Story continues below this ad The issue had also briefly entered the political discourse after Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party chief and Uttar Pradesh minister Om Prakash Rajbhar claimed that differences existed within the SP leadership, including involving the Moradabad MP. However, Veera had then publicly rejected Rajbhar’s claims. Veera, considered close to senior SP leader Azam Khan, was fielded by the party from Moradabad in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in place of sitting MP and veteran leader S T Hasan. She went on to defeat BJP’s S K Singh by over 1 lakh votes. Akhtar, on the other hand, is one of the SP’s prominent faces in Moradabad district. He won the Kanth Assembly seat in 2022 by defeating the sitting BJP MLA by around 43,000 votes and is regarded as an influential organisational man with close access to the party leadership. During the SP government from 2012 to 2017, he was a minister with significant portfolios like Panchayati Raj, and Food and Civil Supplies.Story continues below this ad Interestingly, Akhtar’s appointment as chief whip last year had come at a politically sensitive moment. Manoj Pandey’s rebellion during the Rajya Sabha elections had embarrassed the SP, prompting Akhilesh Yadav to entrust the responsibility to a loyalist. As the SP begins preparing for the 2027 Assembly