UP Election 2022: Akhilesh-Shivpal kiss and make up - Will reunion deliver a poll win?

On Lucknow's Vikramaditya Marg, two bungalows stand facing each other.

On one side lives, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and on the other is the house of his uncle Shivpal Yadav.

After 5 years of a bitter fallout, Akhilesh Yadav finally covered the 100-foot distance to mend fences with Uncle Shivpal.

Akhilesh walked up to his uncle's house, touched his feet and met the family members. They both then reportedly spent around 45 minutes in a room and came out as one.

The Yadav clan got split in the middle as Akhilesh Yadav held reins of the party and challenged Uncle Raj.

Mulayam's younger brother Shivpal crossed swords with his bhatija.

Mulayam's other brother Ram Gopal threw his weight behind the SP's rising son.

Shivpal blamed Ram Gopal for the family Mahabharat.

So much so that he contested against Ram Gopal's son from Firozabad in 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Of course, Shivpal didn't win but ensured that Ram Gopal's son lost.

But that was then.

Now, it's an existential crisis for both Akhilesh and Uncle Shivpal.

Till a few weeks ago, Akhilesh and Shivpal maintained distance. They held separate birthday celebrations for Netaji.

But the political common sense seems to have prevailed over egos.

The truce was planned and brokered by patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Netaji wants Shivpal's Pragatishil Samajwadi Party merged into the SP.

In today's political reality a stronger BJP is their common enemy.

So how will the "hum saath saath hain" track help Akhilesh politically?

Shivpal has always been an organisation man. It is said that he is so well connected with the SP cadre that he knows at least a couple of dozen SP workers by name in each of the 403 seats.

Akhilesh today is the lone star campaigner for his party. With elections around the corner, he can do with some support at the organisational level and in picking candidates. Shivpal is a veteran in that area.

Also a look at the last Assembly election results show that Shivpal's candidates led to a loss of around 30 seats for SP.

And this time Akhilesh wants all the arrows in his quiver to take on the BJP.