LUCKNOW: Akhilesh Yadav has become the undeniable star of SP and UP. His Vikas Rath may have faced glitches, but the SP’s ‘mahagathbandhan’ (grand alliance) bandwagon is on a roll to strengthen the fight against the BJP. SP’s silver jubilee gala on Saturday brought together the former Janata Parivar on one stage with members willing to form a joint front under SP.
Speeches from the dais on Saturday proved that Akhilesh is the only acceptable face, even though the simmering feud was visible in his uncle Shivpal Yadav’s statement that some people “inherit” power without struggle. SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav has backed his son.
“Party is strong and united. We will fight the Assembly elections under Akhilesh Yadav, who will become CM again,” says SP spokesperson Mohammad Shahid.
“The support Akhilesh received on the first leg of his rath yatra and during his speech at the party’s silver jubilee function is unprecedented. Never since Nehru and JP (Jayaprakash Narayan), this kind of public affection for a political leader has been seen,” said UP minister Rajendra Chaudhary.
“This feud has given an edge to Akhilesh over other SP leaders. It is a tussle for power which is not going to die in the near future, it may intensify,” added UP Congress leader Satyadeo Tripathi.
Even Akhilesh’s rivals within the party are going public with their acceptance that only he can lead the party in the 2017 elections. And thereafter.
Any doubt about it was quelled on Thursday morning when the family, led by Mulayam and Shivpal, flagged off Akhilesh’s Vikas Rath Yatra at La Martiniere College ground. It was a public endorsement to an endeavour, which was organised by Team Akhilesh, who Shivpal sacked for ‘anti-party’ activities.
Consider the situation: Akhilesh is on his yatra with full support of the party. On the other hand, among the two other power centres—which were also claimants to Mulayam’s legacy—Shivpal ceases to be a minister while Ram Gopal Yadav is out of the outfit.
BJP spokesperson Chandramohan believes this feud has been a ploy to hide the failures of the present dispensation. BSP leader and former minister Naseemuddin Siddqui called the tussle in SP a “family drama” where the leaders are “fighting for the black money amassed by them”.
On Facebook, BJP leader and spokesperson I P Singh praised Akhilesh and his stand against Shivpal’s bid to merge Mukhtar Ansari’s Quami Ekta Dal (QED) with the SP. He congratulated the CM for being vocal against his ‘uncle’ Amar Singh and minister for clipping wings of the likes of Raja Bhaiyya, Atique Ahmad and UP’s Transport Minister Gayatri Prajapati. Sacked by Akhilesh last month but reinstated on his father’s insistence, Prajapati waxed eloquent about the CM and his achievements. Prajapati was one of the key reasons for the dispute in the family. A few days earlier, he called Mulayam ‘God Shiva’ and Akhilesh ‘Lord Ganesha’.
After a volatile meeting on October 24, Mulayam refused to heed Shivpal and other senior leaders’ demand to take over the command of the government. Instead, he said “the CM will decide on the reinstatement of Shivpal and other sacked ministers”. He also promised that Akhilesh will have a ‘significant’ say in ticket distribution for 2017 elections. SP vice-president Kiranmoy Nanda and Shivpal have said Akhilesh will be the CM face of the party.
When he was made CM on March 15, 2012, Akhilesh was not even 39. When Mulayam showed his willingness to pass on the baton to his elder son, there was resistance from the old guard, led by Shivpal. That ‘grudge’ and came out in open in the past two months.
Akhilesh’s new found confidence gave him the power to defend those who stood by him. He revived the defunct Janeshwar Mishra Trust to give an office space to his loyal aides sacked by the party. Akhilesh’s poll-related activities—including his Vijay Rath Yatra—are being coordinated from this office.
Call it a rub-off effect, the emergence of Akhilesh Yadav Season 2 appears to have left its impact on voters too. A recent opinion poll adjudged him the ‘most suitable candidate to lead the state’ after 2017 polls.
Now, only SP can resolve its internal strife. Akhilesh is ready to lead the party beyond March 2017.