The Samajwadi man who can help the BJP in UP

A day later, Mulayam’s ambitious daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav announced her intention to strengthen Shivpal’s hands, sending a strong message to brother-in-law Akhilesh.

What is brewing between renegade Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Yadav and the BJP? Portrayed as the epitome of corruption and jungle raj in Uttar Pradesh until a few years ago, this ambitious brother of Mulayam Singh Yadav aspired to snatch the chief minister’s seat from under the nose of the prodigal son, Akhilesh Yadav, forcing a vertical split in the party. The split helped the BJP sweep UP in 2017.

While observers thought Shivpal would be consigned to the margins of history since Akhilesh now has a vice-like grip over the party, the chacha last week made many eyes turn with a massive roadshow of his year-old Samajwadi Secular Morcha. Also, Mulayam shared stage with him at an event, showing where his heart lies.

A day later, Mulayam’s ambitious daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav announced her intention to strengthen Shivpal’s hands, sending a strong message to brother-in-law Akhilesh. But the icing on the cake was the allotment of a Type-6 government bungalow vacated by BSP chief Mayawati in compliance with the Supreme Court eviction order. Hardly any minister in the Yogi government has a Type-6 bungalow. The allotment came barely a week after he filed the application. Made of red sandstone and marble, it has 12 bedrooms, two huge halls, four sprawling terraces, two kitchens, a bunch of outhouses and a 500 KW sound proof generator. Shivpal also has been given Z-plus security.

What makes Shivpal important in the BJP’s scheme of things? He was Mulayam’s chief strategician who helped ‘Netaji’ build the party’s network and knows the craft of winning polls. If he could slice off just 2 per cent of Opposition votes when the mahagathbandhan happens, the BJP would be far more comfortable in UP in the 2019 general elections. A few months ago, political fixer Amar Singh had promised to gift-wrap Shivpal to the BJP, but the defection did not happen. Perhaps both sides thought he would benefit the BJP more if he could do the demolition job from outside. The big UP game has already begun.

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