Father out to discipline his son?
Just when it seemed that Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav had succeeded in defusing the trust deficit in the First Family of Uttar Pradesh between his son and chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on the one hand and his brother Shivpal Yadav on the other, has come the news that the latter has expelled, in his new avatar as party chief, seven party functionaries, including three MLCs, all considered close to Akhilesh. The expulsions have ostensibly come with the blessings of Mulayam.
If the internecine quarrel in the party continues and escalates, it could well jeopardise the ruling Samajwadi Party’s chances in the Assembly elections next year and rob it of power, with the Bahujan Samaj Party, the BJP and even the Congress playing for high stakes.
Clearly, there is another battle for supremacy in the Samajwadi Party emerging, between Akhilesh and Shivpal Yadav’s son, Aditya Yadav who is a late entrant into the race but is now being aggressively propped up by father Shivpal as a counterpoise to Akhilesh.
Shivpal is afraid of rubbing Mulayam on the wrong side but has no qualms about taking on Akhilesh. Significantly, the three MLCs whom Shivpal has shown the door— Sunil Singh Sajan, Anand Bhadauria and Sanjay Lathar — were punished ostensibly for making “derogatory remarks” against Mulayam, indulging in anti-party activities and indiscipline, according to a party statement.
Besides the three legislators, Mohd Ebad, state chief of SP youth brigade, Brijesh Yadav, state president of SP yuvjan sabha, Gaurav Dubey, national president of SP youth brigade and Digvijay Singh Dev, state chief of chhatra sabha, were also dismissed from the party on similar grounds. A couple of these leaders have sent their resignation letters ‘signed in blood.’
After assuming charge as SP Uttar Pradesh unit president, Shivpal Yadav had on Sunday expelled a close relative of senior party leader Ram Gopal Yadav, a cousin of Mulayam who has aligned himself with Akhilesh in the battle for stakes between him and Shivpal Yadav.
These are indeed grave provocations for Akhilesh who is considered SP’s trump card in the upcoming Assembly elections next year because of his relatively clean image. The rekindled ambition of Shivpal Yadav to prop up his son has made Akhilesh even more combative.
Akhilesh may not retaliate just yet but that he would at a time of his choice is a virtual certainty. At that point, with Assembly elections round the corner a renewed round of battle between the two leaders of the Samajwadi Party could hurt the party grievously.
It is well on the cards that having been anointed as party chief for UP Shivpal Yadav would like to monopolise ticket distribution to Samajwadi Party nominees for the Assembly elections. He would do everything possible to pack in his preferred nominees and that would sharpen his divide with Akhilesh. What attitude Mulayam will adopt would be crucial in the run-up to the polls, torn as he is between Akhilesh and Shivpal.
Then there is the issue of the mischievous trouble-maker Amar Singh. Akhilesh has made no bones about his antipathy towards Amar Singh while Shivpal Yadav is hell bent on cultivating Amar to be one up on Akhilesh. There again the views of Mulayam would be crucial. Though Mulayam has been at times vocal in his criticism of Akhilesh, it is unlikely that he would acquiesce in his own son’s political career being compromised to suit his brother. Any move to weaken Akhilesh would predictably weaken the party which is riding on his youth pull and his general acceptability. Shivpal is a good organiser and has grassroots support but he is no match for Akhilesh’s charisma.
Significantly, while Akhilesh returned all other portfolios to Shivpal which he had divested him of at the height of the clash between them, he refused to restore the PWD charge to him. It is common knowledge that the public works department is a lucrative department to head and Shivpal was very keen to have it back.
Mulayam too did not twist Akhilesh’s arm to force him to give back PWD to Shivpal. In the bargain, Shivpal was allowed to keep the coveted position of party chief which Akhilesh desperately wanted back.
It is hard to deny that this is an uneasy truce between Shivpal and Akhilesh. The pro-Akhilesh party functionaries who have been sacked would not leave him in peace. Shivpal too would not be at peace until he gets his son Aditya inducted into some key party post if Akhilesh does not agree to take him in his council of ministers. Mulayam would predictably have to broker peace again between his son and his brother but Akhilesh could well be in a defiant mood.
The theory that many analysts had propounded when the imbroglio first came to light that it was all a drama to boost the sagging prospects of the Akhilesh government in the public eye has not been borne by facts on the ground.
There is indeed a real distance that has developed between Mulayam and Akhilesh as it appears. The latest piece of news that Amar Singh has been elevated to the post of national general secretary of the party by Mulayam when Akhilesh was baying for him to be thrown out of the party, coupled with the expulsion of young activists who were demanding that the party chief’s post be restored to Akhilesh are pointers that the father is out to discipline the son. How all this will play out in the upcoming Assembly elections indeed remains to be seen.