On Wednesday, UP Samajwadi Party chief Ramgopal Yadav expelled a minister from the party for six years, and asked Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to follow suit and remove him from his cabinet, but a defiant CM has refused to comply.

It appears the two are now fighting a proxy war, using party workers to take potshots at the other. Those close to Akhilesh are out of the party, while those close to Shivpal are out of the government. It’s now clear Ramgopal controls the party, while Akhilesh controls the government.

This is a dangerous trend and it is bound to harm the party in the long run. While both Akhilesh and Ramgopal constantly say in public that they will obey Mulayam Singh Yadav, the ground reality is that neither camp is ready to listen to the party supremo.

From day one, Mulayam has been trying to solve the rift within his family and prevent the feud from spilling on to the party ranks, but he appears to have failed. The Samajwadi Party will complete 25 years of its existence after ten days, and by then it will be clear whether the party will split or remain united.