Friday, Mar 29, 2024 | Last Update : 04:58 PM IST

  India   Peace for now, cracks remain

Peace for now, cracks remain

Published : Sep 17, 2016, 5:13 am IST
Updated : Sep 17, 2016, 5:13 am IST

It’s a battle for survival between the chacha-bhatija of Uttar Pradesh’s first family.

It’s a battle for survival between the chacha-bhatija of Uttar Pradesh’s first family. Though the party supremo, Mulayam Singh Yadav, made it amply clear that he is still the boss and doused the fire raging in the house of Yadavs for the time being, his brother, Shivpal Yadav and son, chief minister Akhilesh Yadav have made it fully clear that the fight for survival has only begun. Speculations are rife that Shivpal could also bargain for the post of deputy chief minister for his son, Aditya, who also resigned on Thursday from the post of chairman of Pradeshik Cooperative Federation.

In this game of throne, Akhilesh is aware that given an opportunity, his uncle, Shivpal, would move in with full might to snatch it away from him. Akhilesh on Friday said, “The fight is not about me or with me. The fight is for the chair I’m sitting on.”

Shivpal feels that without his elder brother, Mulayam Singh’s protection, Akhilesh along with Ramgopal Yadav will edge him out of the outfit.

Shivpal’s ambition to be the face of the party took a hit when Mulayam Singh chose his son as his successor during the last Assembly polls in 2012. To make matters worse, he also replaced him as state unit chief with Akhilesh. Yet, unlike Akhilesh, who’s being more focused on the social media and busy building his image through that, Shivpal has been the organisation man. His hold in the organisation became quite clear as he flexed his muscle on Friday and virtually forced Akhilesh’s hand to somewhat step back. Akhilesh camp is aware that unlike his uncle, the chief minister does not have major grassroots support and this could prove costly in the long run.

As long as “Netaji” is there, the party will remain intact, a senior party functionary said.

Without Mulayam’s active intervention or a pro-active role, the party will split in the middle and Shivpal has the strength to launch his own outfit, an SP functionary said. Of the 220 MLAs, over 150 are with Shivpal and the number says a lot, the also functionary pointed out.

After being shunted out from his portfolios by his nephew, Shivpal realised he has to fight to survive and accepting any package offered by Akhilesh at this juncture could be a political hara-kiri. He unleashed his supporters on the party and the high command buckled.

The Akhilesh camp also knows that as long as Shivpal remains, his ambition of being an “independent” chief minister would continue to hit road blocks. Shivpal’s relevance is his hold in the grassroots and organisational skill. It may be recalled that addressing party workers recently, Mulayam had said that if Shivpal “leaves, party will split.”

Shivpal, a four-term MLA from Jaswantnagar constituency, has been playing a key role in forming alliances between SP and other outfits. He had also held parleys with the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) to get the party’s MLAs to support SP candidates in the Rajya Sabha elections in June this year. This time he tried for a merger of Quami Ekta Dal (QED) and SP. Akhilesh allegedly blocked it. The Akhilesh camp is against Shivpal gaining more strength in the organisation. It was Shivpal along with Mulayam Singh Yadav, who got the expelled leader, Amar Singh, back into the party fold. Now Akhilesh and his camp want him out.

Akhilesh might be the face of the party, but his camp is aware that in the organisation, after “Netajit” it is Shivpal. And the youngest of the Yadav brothers, Shivpal had been working with Mulayam Singh Yadav for decades. Making it clear that Akhilesh and Shivpal cannot survive for long in one outfit, an SP functionary said, “Ek mayan mein doh talwar nahi rahe sakta. (There cannot be two swords in one scabbard).”

Location: India, Delhi, New Delhi