Akhilesh expected tough action, Cong smells chance

UTTAR PRADESH Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav is said to be neither surprised nor shocked by his expulsion from the party, and was apparently expecting some tough action on these lines from his father and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Expecting a showdown for ownershipoftheparty,akhileshis learnt to have kept ready signaturesofsp’sdistrictunitchiefsand Mlas,astheelectioncommission will have the final say over some issues in this fight over the party.

Ifhemanagestogettheparty’s ownership,sourcessaid,akhilesh wants to expel his uncle and SP’S Uttar Pradesh unit president Shivpal Yadav and his supporters.

If he loses control of the party before the 2017 polls, Akhilesh is likely to take the election symbol of tree, owned by Kamal Morarka’s Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya).

Meanwhile, the Congress, sensing that Akhilesh seems more open to the idea of an alliance with the party, has been in touch with his camp in Lucknow as possibility of a break-up increased. The Congress is looking forward to a possible alliance with Akhilesh, Ajit Singh’s RLD and other smaller parties in the upcoming Vidhan Sabha elections. Sources in the grand old party said if the alliance with Akhilesh fructifies for UP, then an umbrella alliance can be looked at for the 2019 General Election comprising Congress, Mamata Banerjee’s TMC, Lalu Prasad Yadav’s RJD and Akhilesh Yadav, with the possibility of NCP and a Dravidian party also joining in.

But it is to be seen how many of the 180-odd legislators who have reportedly reposed faith in the young leader, from among SP’S 225 MLAS in the Assembly, desert Mulayam. Many feel that barring the 50 or so sitting MLAS denied tickets, the others may find it difficult to openly revolt against the ageing wrestler, who almost single-handedly made SP one of India’s most formidable regional parties.

On the other hand, much as Mulayam and Shivpal try to hold the reins, their supporters know that the election cannot be won without Akhilesh, whose biggest achievementperhapsremainsthe fact that he has smartly brushed off the anti-incumbency tag by sellinganarrativethatallthatwent wrong during his tenure was due to Shivpal and his supporters.

In the other corner, BJP and BSP may be smiling, considering that any split in SP would push Muslims towards Mayawati and SP’S urban voters to the saffron side.butifakhileshactuallywalks outwithasizeablechunkofmlas andteamsupwithcongress,ithas a potential to script a new chapter in the state.