Lucknow, Apr 1 (IANS): Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) president Om Prakash Rajbhar will now mediate in the Shivpal-Akhilesh cold war and make a sincere effort to iron out the differences between the two.

"I will be meeting Shivpal Singh Yadav in the coming days and then Akhilesh Yadav. I will make an effort to broker peace between the two and ensure that the alliance remains intact. Our fight is a long one and we cannot afford to spoil things over small issues," he said.

Rajbhar further said that the rift between the two leaders of the Yadav clan was essentially a family issue and should not cloud the political situation.

Rajbhar said, "I have also spoken to Akhilesh and he has also agreed that I should talk to Shivpal Singh at the earliest."

Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (PSP) leader Shivpal Yadav has been upset ever since he was not invited to the Samajwadi Party legislature party meeting even though he has been elected on a SP ticket.

Shivpal skipped the meeting of allies that SP chief Akhilesh Yadav had convened earlier this week, making it clear that he was in no mood for rapprochement.

Later, Shivpal met Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and BJP leader Yogi Adityanath that fanned the buzz about the PSP leader's fresh rift with Akhilesh in political circles.

Though Shivpal insisted that it was a courtesy visit to congratulate the chief minister on his victory in the recently held Assembly polls in the state, insiders insisted that the meeting had almost finalised a deal that Shivpal would be sent to Rajya Sabha by the BJP and his son Aditya would contest his Jaswantnagar assembly seat that will fall vacant when he resigns.