Yadav vs Yadav in Uttar Pradesh is father (once again) reminding son who's boss

Behind the current hostilities in the Yadav clan that rules the country’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, and the Samajwadi Party is a fierce tug of war between party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav – Netaji to his followers – and his chief minister son Akhilesh Yadav.

There is a lot of hype in media and political circles about the ugly brawl between uncle Shivpal Yadav and nephew Akhilesh Yadav or the mischievous role played by “outsider” Amar Singh. Yet, while these two and other Yadav family members and party leaders are certainly involved in the fracas, the real battle is between an aged but domineering father and his anointed heir who – for at least a little while – seemed to have decided not to be bullied anymore.

Akhilesh Yadav’s dramatic decision to act in open defiance of his father and remove ministers and bureaucrats close to his uncle Shivpal Yadav, to the extent of stripping the latter of key ministerial portfolios just a few months before assembly elections that are due early next year, was clearly a move to refurbish his image of being a pushover politician dominated by his father, uncles and senior party bosses. In fact, some months ago, as he completed four years as chief minister, a dissident legislator of his own party had described him as the “weakest and most inefficient chief minister in the history of Uttar Pradesh”.

Much of Akhilesh Yadav’s image problem emanates from his father’s refusal to accept him as a grown-up son, let alone a full-fledged chief minister. Indeed, he was appointed chief minister after the Samajwadi Party won a surprise majority in the elections in 2012 because he was considered by his father to be a political lightweight who could be a convenient proxy, freeing the veteran leader to pursue his ambitions in national politics. He did so rejecting the claims of his younger brother Shivpal Yadav, the experienced party boss and not so easy to control.

The decision to elevate Akhilesh Yadav was actively encouraged by Mulayam Singh Yadav’s cousin, Ram Gopal Yadav, who too felt he could run the young and inexperienced chief minister.

Not surprisingly, Akhilesh Yadav has failed to stamp his authority on his party, which seems even more unruly, faction-ridden and directionless than when he took over the reins of power four and a half years ago. Most of the key officials in his office, including principal secretary Anita Singh, were handpicked by his father. And whenever the young leader has tried to call the shots, he has been repeatedly bypassed, snubbed and even humiliated by the elders of the Yadav clan.

Akhilesh Yadav’s own father has been the biggest culprit. On several occasions, the patriarch has publicly scolded the chief minister for failing to run the government properly and even blamed this for the party’s miserable performance in the Lok Sabha polls in 2014, when it won just five seats.

Mulayam Singh Yadav has also repeatedly taken the side of his brother over his son. The latest example before Friday's events was at an Independence Day function last month when he issued a warning, while glaring at Akhilesh Yadav, that no conspiracy against Shivpal Yadav would be tolerated.

It is Mulayam Singh Yadav’s own ambivalent relationship with his son and successor that emboldened Shivpal Yadav – who has always resented the fact that his nephew leapfrogged him to become chief minister – to increasingly harass Akhilesh Yadav. Matters reached a head earlier this year when he suspended two of Akhilesh Yadav’s closest aides, Anand Bhadauria and Sunil Singh Sajan, from the party without consulting the chief minister. This public embarrassment sent Akhilesh Yadav into a deep sulk and he refused to attend the annual Saifai Mahotsav in his family village till his father relented and got them reinstated.

The anti-Akhilesh alliance

Shivpal Yadav is not the only one who has sought to make life miserable for Akhilesh Yadav. Behind the scenes, his stepmother Sadhana Yadav, step-brother Prateek and his wife Aparna, all of whom have far more regular interactions with Mulayam Singh Yadav, have been conspiring against him. Mulayam Singh Yadav’s decision to bring Amar Singh, the controversial political operator who was once his closest confidante, back to the party has only compounded the situation. Amar Singh – an inveterate foe of Ram Gopal Yadav, who is considered a mentor to Akhilesh Yadav – has spared no opportunity in poisoning Mulayam Singh Yadav’s mind about the chief minister getting too big for his boots.

This unholy alliance between his brother, second wife, younger son and daughter-in-law and friend has cleverly played on Mulayam Singh Yadav’s own insecurity as an ageing leader whose national ambitions have collapsed and his need to feel all important at least in Uttar Pradesh, which his party rules. Nothing else explains why he went along with a decision in early August, while the chief minister was out of the country, to make Deepak Singhal – said to be close to all the members of the anti-Akhilesh alliance – chief secretary.

This was the last straw for the beleaguered chief minister. Although he confirmed Singhal’s appointment on his return, he decided to hit back within weeks. He first sacked the controversial mining minister Gayatri Prajapati, close to both his father and uncle, using a high court order indicting the minister on serious corruption charges. He then swiftly transferred the hostile chief secretary, Singhal, declaring open war on his elders.

His father retaliated by snatching the crucial state party chief’s post from his son and handing it to his brother Shivpal Yadav, which in turn provoked Akhilesh Yadav to strip his uncle of most of his key cabinet portfolios.

Several days of perhaps the most sensational family feud in the history of Indian politics appears to have put Mulayam Singh back in control to work out a tentative truce. Not only would Shivpal Yadav get back his key portfolios, it was decided, but his supporter Gayatri Prajapati would also to be re-inducted in the cabinet. Both uncle and nephew, it was agreed, would decide the selection of candidates for the coming poll.

By the end of the day, the chief minister's office had declared that its short-lived rebellion was over.

But the schisms within the clan and the party run wide and deep, not least because the patriarch is still not ready to hand over his political mantle to his successor son. Meanwhile, with elections looming the, prospects of a bitterly divided Samajwadi Party grow dimmer with every passing day.