Alliance may face ideological pitfalls
AS THE TWO PARTIES HAVE A COMMON VOTE BANK TO SOME EXTENT, THE PERSONAL AMBITIONS OF BOTH LEADERS MAY CLASH
LUCKNOW: The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) may have come together to fight the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Lok Sabha election but their inherent differences may force them to take divergent stands in the postpoll scenario.
Besides having different styles of functioning, BSP national president Mayawati and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav have inherent differences in ideology, age and experience. A common vote bank (to some extent) coupled with personal ambitions and rising aspirations of partymen may become a cause of conflict even if the two leaders decide to take the alliance forward after the election.
Mayawati is considered to be a shrewd politician. Along with late BSP ideologue Kanshiram, she is a founder of her party. Despite forming government with the BJP’S support thrice, Mayawati had kept that party on tenterhooks and broken the alli- ance as she cultivated the image of a strong administrator.
Akhilesh, on the other hand, has the image of a mild-mannered leader who remained accessible even to his adversaries. Although he has worked to strengthen the party organisation, he has inherited the party from his father, Mulayam Singh Yadav. Akhilesh will have to tread cautiously and know how “close will not be too close” with the BSP while keeping the BJP at bay. As CM (20122017), he tried to undo what Mayawati (2007-2012) had done. Besides restoring original names to districts and institutions that Mayawati had renamed, Akhilesh had consistently attacked the BSP regime for dividing the bureaucracy and bringing up memorials instead of working for the development of Uttar Pradesh.
This was mainly because of the compulsions of the politics that he inherited from then SP chief Mulayam. Despite being erstwhile partners of an alliance government formed in 1993 under Mulayam’s leadership, the BSP and the SP had worked as sworn enemies after the state guesthouse incident.
A change in SP leadership and the rise of a stronger BJP in the national political scenario led to an alliance between estranged partners was considered an option to counter the BJP. The bypolls to Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats in March 2018 brought the two sworn rivals together and provided them an opportunity to defeat the BJP.
Both the BSP and SP have deviated a bit from their ideological planks to assume power. Mayawati is often charged with diluting her Dalit agenda to take other sections of the society along. Akhilesh has tried to move beyond some of his father’s policies when the situation has so demanded.
Mulayam had worked on the formula of equidistance from the Congress and the BJP. Although Mulayam sought and extended outside support to the Congress on many occasions, he kept the Congress at a distance and did not align with it. But Akhilesh decided to align with the party in the 2017 assembly polls despite opposition from Mulayam.
POSSIBLE BREAKING POINTS
Much will depend on the performance of the alliance. The BSP has a strong support base among Dalits and the SP among the backward castes. Both also need the support of Muslims and other castes. As the two parties have a common vote bank to some extent, the personal ambitions of both leaders may clash.
While Mayawati has been described as unpredictable, Akhilesh has the image of a leader who tries to take everybody along. Yet, the SP will not compromise if it comes to issues concerning Muslims and certain backward castes.