Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Pradhan, Kunal

Titel

UP Election 2017: Akhilesh Yadav battling to come out of father Mulayam's shadow: Battling first his father's shadow and then the Yadav clan, Akhilesh is finally trying to become his own man in the run-up to the crucial 2017 assembly election in Uttar Pradesh

Ist Teil von

• India today. North American edition, 2016-06

Ort / Verlag

New Delhi: Living Media India, Limited

Erscheinungsjahr

2016

Beschreibungen/Notizen

•   What is at stake in next year's election is not just [Akhilesh Yadav]'s job but also the future of SP. [Mulayam Singh Yadav] had built his base by emerging as a backward leader in UP's post-Mandal dynamics, and as a champion of Muslims by protecting the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya during his first term as chief minister in 1990. But with him no longer in the best of health, the grip is slowly loosening. It's now up to Akhilesh to hang on to the traditional vote banks and expand the party base-which is why Mulayam had propped him up as chief minister in 2012 for a smooth handover. For most of Akhilesh's first term as chief minister, however, he has been mired in law-and-order problems, side-stepped by bureaucrats who still consider his father the real seat of power, and kept on a tight leash by members of the family. Akhilesh has not exactly been able to break out as a mass leader to fill his father's shoes-partly because of Mulayam's own inability to cede control. There are fears that five years out of power may end up marginalising SP, which has been the state's biggest regional power for more than two decades, and permanently damage Akhilesh's political future. So you have one line extending from Mulayam's eldest brother Ratan Singh, which today manifests itself in his grandson Tej Pratap Singh Yadav, the Mainpuri MP who is the youngest of the Yadavs in Parliament. Another line descends from Mulayam's younger brother Abhay Ram Yadav, a proud cowherd in Saifai, whose son Dharmendra is the MP from Badaun. A third line stems from Mulayam's first cousin Ram Gopal Yadav, a Rajya Sabha MP fondly known as "professor" within the family, whose son Akshay is the MP from Firozabad. Then there is Mulayam's youngest brother and most trusted aide, Shivpal, an MLA, whose son Aditya is the head of the state cooperative federation. Akhilesh himself is Mulayam's son from his first wife, Malti Devi; his wife Dimple is the MP from Kannauj. And finally there is Prateek, Mulayam's stepson from his second wife, Sadhana Singh; and his wife, the overtly ambitious Aparna, who will be an MLA candidate from Lucknow (Cantt) in the 2017 assembly polls. Amidst these more prominent members are sundry first, second and third cousins who serve in various capacities in party committees and local bodies. As the candid Shivpal says: "Some are reaping the benefits of their hard work, some of their good fortune." The Opposition has decided to attack Akhilesh on his original image as a bungling, frivolous leader who is out of his depth and too tied down by family compulsions to be his own man. "How can one expect welfare from a person who is busy organising lavish fairs in Saifai, undertaking foreign tours, and playing cricket matches with officers?" Mayawati, 60, thundered on April 14 during Dalit icon B.R. Ambedkar's birthday celebrations. "Officers can ensure your victory in matches, but not in assembly polls!" She was referring to a recent friendly match between the CM XI and IAS XI that was fixed to the point where an officer was seen chastising himself, rather than celebrating, after he got Akhilesh's wicket. His response has been to satirically refer to Mayawati as "Bua" (father's sister) and challenge her to a sharp contest, while emphasising repeatedly that she might join hands with the BJP, perhaps in a bid to warn Muslim voters. Similarly, former SP leader Raj Babbar, who is with the Congress and had defeated Dimple in the 2009 Lok Sabha by-election in Kannauj, rates Akhilesh "zero on 10", accusing him of "sleeping for four years and then rushing forward to complete gigantic projects in one year". The chief minister's response has been to simply wave away the allegations with a mischievous smile.