Despite their squabbles, it's clear that Mulayam and Akhilesh can't do without each other

Samajwadi Party chief Mulayum Singh Yadav’s attempts to paper over the differences in the party on Tuesday further underlined that Yadav senior and his son Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav cannot afford to go their separate ways.

The battle in the Samajwadi Party’s First Family had degenerated into a public brawl on Monday and the possibility of a split in the party loomed large after the fiery meeting. On Tuesday, Mulayum Singh Yadav held a special press conference to declare that the party was united and there were no plans to replace Akhilesh Yadav as chief minister. At the same time, behind-the-scenes efforts are on to call to bring together the warring factions in the Samajwadi Party’s first family.

This has become necessary as both father and son realise that they will end up destroying each other if they opt to part company with each other and contest the next year’s assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh separately. Mulayum Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav have to work together or else the 25-year-old Samajwadi Party would find itself heading towards oblivion. While Akhilesh Yadav needs the party to stay afloat, his father needs his son as the party’s chief ministerial candidate.

A popular figure

Akhilesh Yadav is the face of the Samajwadi Party and is undoubtedly its future leader. Despite the electorate’s growing disenchantment with the Samajwadi Party, the young chief minister’s personal image has not taken a hit and is particularly popular among the youth and women. Akhilesh Yadav is perceived as a well-meaning leader who is genuinely interested in developing Uttar Pradesh but is not being allowed to function by his interfering father and uncle. The chief minister’s stock has further risen ever since he started asserting himself and openly took on his uncle Shivpal Yadav and challenged his father’s authority.

But Akhilesh Yadav may not go too far if he decides to chart an independent course and contest the coming elections on his own. He needs the Samajwadi Party banner and its well-oiled organisational machinery to back him. On the other hand, Mulayum Singh Yadav and his brother Shivpal Yadav are the real architects of the Samajwadi Party. Despite the differences in the party, the two senior leaders still exercise considerable hold over the cadres.

While Akhilesh Yadav may have the support of a large section of the people, it is his father and uncle who control the party. This is the main reason that the chief minister has raised a banner or revolt. He is well aware that he is on a weak wicket in the party as his father and uncle remain its chief commanders because they had distributed the tickets in the 2012 assembly polls. Akhilesh Yadav wants to make sure that he has a major say in the choice of candidates in next year’s elections so that he is able to exercise greater control over the party. “ This fight is all about determining about who inherits Mulayum Singh’s legacy,” explained senior Samajwadi Party leader.

However, Mulayum Singh Yadav is not ready to let go and he made it amply clear at the Monday meeting that he is still the boss when he snubbed Akhilesh Yadav and came out in strong support of his brother. “Shivpal is a leader of the masses,” he declared. The Samajwadi Party chief also let it be known that his son should not be under the mistaken impression that he has the support of the youth. “I am not a weak person," Mulayam Singh Yadav said. "I gave tickets to youth, no one else did. Do not think that the youth are not with me."

A younger face

As a master of realpolitik and given his strong organisational skills, Mulayum Singh Yadav is unlikely to allow Akhilesh Yadav to marginalise him or take over the party. But despite his strengths, Mulayum Singh Yadav cannot afford to let his son walk out of the party. For one, health and age are not on his side. Having already passed on the baton to Akhilesh Yadav, it is highly unlikely that the people will now accept him as the future chief minister. Mulayum Singh Yadav is unable to abandon Shivpal Yadav because of his vast experience in handling party matters but he certainly cannot project him as the Samajwadi Party’s face in elections. Given the all-round consensus that the electorate prefers a younger face, Yadav senior must keep Akhilesh Yadav in the party fold.

If the infighting persists and eventually culminates in a split, it could prove disastrous for the Samajwadi Party as it could end up losing the support of both the Mulism and Yadavs who have, so far, been loyal to Mulayum Singh Yadav. The minorities could shift to the Bahujan Samaj Party, which will be seen to be in a better position to stop the Bharatiya Janata Party surge. The Yadavs may opt for the BJP.

It was for these reasons that Mulayum Singh Yadav clarified that Akhilesh Yadav will not be removed as Uttar Pradesh chief minister though he also underlined that he will not be browbeaten and that he expected his son to fall in line.

Similarly, Yadav junior vehemently denied reports that he intended to split the party and float his own political outfit.

In fact, the Samajwadi Party chief even attempted to bring about a rapprochement between his son and brother Shivpal Yadav, who have been embroiled in an open turf war for the past several weeks, when he told Akhilesh Yadav at the party meeting on Monday to hug his uncle. However, the ugly scenes which followed suggested that a patch-up may be difficult. Nevertheless efforts are on to unite the two factions given the high stakes involved.