Tough choice for Mulayam in crisis
For Samajwadi Party founder and national president Mulayam Singh Yadav, these are tough times as the party which he formed over the years is on the verge of a split not because of any outsider but because of clashes among family members who occupy important positions in the party.
When Mulayam had chosen his elder son Akhilesh Yadav to head the SP government after a massive election win in 2012, there was grumbling among some senior leaders but Mulayam had silenced them by saying that since the party had won so many seats on the strength of a young leadership, it was but fair to give the chief minister’s position to Akhilesh.
But over the last four years, Mulayam realized that elections could not be won only on the basis of socalled good work done by Akhilesh as chief minister, and caste/community/regional equations had also to be settled in order to maintain the party’s hold over the vast state. It was with this objective that Mulayam influenced several decisions of the Akhilesh government despite the chief minister’s reluctance.
However, it now appears that Mulayam’s hand is forced since Shivpal, in his capacity as state party president, is running the party in a style reflecting traditional and conservative principles. The accommodation of several leaders and ministers and the merger of Qaumi Ekta Dal are examples of this style. But this is something that did not find favour with Akhilesh who had expressed his reluctance on both these issues in no uncertain terms.