In SP clan’s home turf, Shivpal still popular
At first glance, Saifai looks nothing like an average Uttar Pradesh village.
Home to 5,125 voters, the village has a medical university, a college, two stadia, a swimming pool, a government sports college and an air strip. Agra-Lucknow Expressway is a proverbial stone’s throw away.
For three decades, Saifai has been on India’s political map as the nerve centre of the Samajwadi Party because it is the ancestral village of the party’s first family, which has six lawmakers in Parliament and one in the assembly. But a bitter tussle for power in the Yadav family — especially between Jaswant Nagar MLA Shivpal Yadav and his nephew Akhilesh Yadav — has worried the villagers.
Locals, a majority of whom are Yadavs (the caste base of the SP) say they will stand by party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, popularly known as Netaji, in the Lok Sabha polls. Saifai is part of Mulayam’s Lok Sabha constituency of Mainpuri. But in assembly elections, a section of villagers say they will opt for Chhote Netaji (Shivpal) over Bhaiyyaji (Akhilesh) because the Jaswant Nagar MLA and founder of the new Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) (PSP) has been critical in the development of the village and remains popular.
“In Jaswant Nagar, even if Bhaiyajji contests against Chhotey Netaji, the latter will win,” says Anshul Yadav, 28, a farmer. Villagers say they will vote for Netaji from the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat irrespective of whether he represents SP or PSP.
Saifai voters say Shivpal won the Jaswant Nagar seat in 2017 without the SP’s support because of the people’s enduring loyalty to the five-time MLA. “They have all worked for Saifai, be it Netaji, Chhote Netaji, or Bhaiyaji. The family may be divided, but all the three are dear to us for what they have done for the village,” says Ankit Yadav, 22, a student of Chaudhary Charan Singh Degree college in Saifai. Some villagers say they don’t blame Shivpal for trying to tread a separate political path. “What option did he have?” asks Anshul.
The feud between Akhilesh and Shivpal surfaced in 2016 and lasted for months, resulting in a series of tit-for-tat sackings and almost daily exchange of bitter remarks. Akhilesh became the national president of the Samajwadi Party in January 2017 but lost the assembly polls. Akhilesh says his uncle is acting to benefit the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) while Shivpal says he tried to hold the party together but failed because of his nephew. Some villagers say they want the family to reunite but add that they would vote for Mulayam and Shivpal in both Lok Sabha and assembly elections, respectively. “They will unite. We know it. But even otherwise, it hardly makes difference to our votes. We will vote for Shivpal in Vidhan Sabha and Netaji for Lok Sabha...,” said farmer Ravindra Singh.
Saifai nowadays is abuzz with political activity. A fleet of SUVs with the ‘red-yellow-green’ (Shivpal’s chosen colours) flags drive into the school owned by Shivpal.
Experts say even if Shivpal is unable to dent the SP in other regions, in his home turf, he will inflict damage. Kaushal Kishore, a professor of political science at Banaras Hindu University, said, “While Mulayam was busy with UP and national politics, Shivpal worked all his political life in Yadav belt and eastern UP, the region where SP has traditionally been strong.”