Seeing thru’ Samajwadi drama by father-son duo

Call it a story of flip-flops, a coup or a family feud or Pari'WAR', the events unfolding at Samajwadi Party headquarters in Lucknow on a 24/7 basis symbolise anything but a tussle for power. Neither Mulayam Singh Yadav nor Akhilesh Yadav would ever agree for a complete break-up. The duo is well-versed in the art of Statecraft and would ever ignore the ground reality.

There are differences in the family, no doubt. There are two uncles of Akhilesh who do not see eye to eye on any issue with Akhilesh relying on Prof Ramgopal Yadav, his father's cousin, and the SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav trusting Shivpal Yadav, his youngest brother.

Akhilesh is well aware of his father's soft corner for his second daughter-in-law, the wife of Prateek Yadav, son of Mulayam's second wife Sadhana Gupta Anita Bisht Yadav referred to usually as 'choti bahu' in the political circles of SP.

In fact, Mulayam has made no secret of his intentions - that Anita is to be promoted in politics - when he had chosen her for the Lucknow Cantonment Assembly Constituency in the list released by Shivpal Yadav. This is the constituency represented by Rita Bahuguna, a former Congress MLA who is now with the BJP.

When Akhilesh deliberately did not mention her name in the list released by him against this constituency, all 'hell' broke loose with the party chief sacking him from the party for six years along with Ramgopal Yadav. Rest of the developments was quick to unfold and as quickly, to change course and take a U-turn as is the wont in UP politics.

Politics in UP are marked for such turns. In fact, a joke on UP says that those entering UP from other States would realise they have entered the State the moment they start taking U-turns on the road. In case of the latest, which may not be the last as always, the high drama in UP is said to have been engineered by the father-son duo which wanted to shore up its chances of retaining power in the upcoming Assembly elections.

Not being sure of how much of anti-incumbency was prevalent among the electorate and also of not being sure as to whether the last election's social engineering formula would continue to work wonders for them, the two started writing the script together.

Did Mulayam-Akhilesh duo bank upon the BJP's penchant for fishing in troubled waters? Yes, seems to be the answer. The two leaders perhaps thought the BJP would rush in to meddle in the troubled waters of UP just as it did in the past in Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh. If the BJP were to do so, the SP would have gladly accepted the offer and converted it into a sympathy wave.

The dwindling stock of the SP in UP due to its internal rivalry as well the sinking law and order situation was already being fully exploited by the BSP and the BJP. A drowning man will clutch at a straw they say. Someone who is desperate will try to use anything for help, even if it is really of no help at all.

That is what Mulayam thought, it is said, when he planned this "tug of war" for control of the reins of the party. Close watchers of the SP always suspected the same. It was a kind of testing the waters and test they did. However, there was no reaction from the Centre. It just suspected the same and allowed the drama to continue.

"Not that there are no differences between them. But it is too much to expect that the father and son would part ways. Any person who knows how wily Mulayam could be would never believe in his utterances. Both know that they stand no chance if they split and part ways only to lose the symbol even. That would be the death knell for the party," senior BJP sources handling UP say.

Even if it is assumed that the differences are real and yet the party overcomes it, there is little to hope for the party that it would come out unscathed from the drama. The message that has gone down to the public is not that the family will remain united, but that there are serious differences and but for Azam Khan who played a crucial role twice at least, the party would have been wiped out.

Whether Akhilesh has gained any sympathy at all is to be seen. Too much of anything is bad for us. Mulayam-Akhilesh duo must remember that the dose makes the poison! Another theory doing rounds within the SP is that Akhilesh and Mulayam are carping over who should be their ally - the Congress or the BJP - as the former is all set to join hands with the Congress and the latter leaning towards the BJP "in the family interest."

By W Chandrakanth