LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party (SP) national president Mulayam Singh Yadav on Thursday dissolved his party’s state unit. But his son and chief minister, Akhilesh Yadav, got way with it and would continue to be SP state chief. The fresh move has led to demands of similar action against other senior party leaders, who headed the Lok Sabha election campaign. Akhilesh had, on Wednesday, sacked 36 heads of corporations a day after Mulayam indicated he was in no mood to spare those responsible for the party’s humiliating defeat.

A section of the party, particularly the younger lot, which has been at the receiving end of the dissolution of the state unit, has demanded action against senior leaders at the helm of affairs during the elections. “The senior leaders cannot escape their responsibility. They were the ones who selected the candidates. Why should not they be held responsible for the debacle?” asked a party leader.

The party had given tickets about a year in advance. But at least 40 candidates were replaced and some of them as late as three months before the elections, said a youth leader. “This automatically created rebels within the party — something which was completely avoidable,” he said.