Never mind the UP drubbing, Akhilesh seems firmly in charge of the Samajwadi Party

On Tuesday, Akhilesh Yadav was unanimously elected leader of the Samajwadi Party in both the Uttar Pradesh Assembly and Council, during a meeting of party legislators.

At the meeting, the MLAs and MLCs present also unanimously passed a provision that the legislature party meeting can be convened only by the national president, state president and leader of the legislature. With two out of these three posts held by Akhilesh Yadav, and the position of state president held by his loyalist Naresh Uttam, this has dealt a blow to sidelined party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav’s plans to call a separate meeting of its legislators.

After 25 years of its existence, the Samajwadi Party has been battered by turmoil over the past few months, when Akhilesh Yadav seized control of the party from his father, Mulayam Singh Yadav. To add to the party’s problems, the resurgent BJP dealt the party a crushing defeat in the recently-concluded Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, sweeping it out of power in the politically crucial state.

The strife between the many members of the Yadav family jostling for prominence in the Samajwadi Party is unlikely to die down following the defeat. The age old adage, kingship knows no kinship, aptly sums up the prevailing situation in the party. However, for now at least, Akhilesh Yadav seems to be firmly in the driver’s seat.

On Monday, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister appointed a loyalist and Samajwadi Party veteran, Ram Govind Choudhary, as the party’s leader in the Assembly. Choudhary was also nominated the Leader of Opposition in the Vidhan Sabha. The Samajwadi Party, with 47 seats, is the second-largest party in the 403-member Assembly. Akhilesh Yadav is a member of the Legislative Council.

Senior party leaders Azam Khan and Shivpal Yadav, the brother of Mulayam Singh Yadav, who were the frontrunners for the post of party leader in the Assembly – skipped Tuesday’s legislators meeting.

A leader close to Shivpal Yadav said that immediately after Choudhary’s appointment was announced, the sidelined leader called him to say that the time had come for him to part ways with the Samajwadi Party and form a new outfit. During the election campaign, Shivpal Yadav had already announced that he may form a new party. His comment on the Samajwadi Party’s defeat in the elections – “It is the defeat of ego” – is evidence of the continuing acrimony between uncle and nephew.

“Every MLA was invited for the [legislators] meeting,” said Sunil Singh Sajan, party spokesperson and member of Akhilesh Yadav’s core team. “We have nothing against anybody. Everybody has accepted Akhilesh has our leader. There is no question to his leadership.”

A brief history

The Samajwadi Party family drama began in September and culminated on January 1 with the party’s emergency national convention electing Akhilesh Yadav as its new president. From September to January , the two camps played out a game of expulsion and counter-expulsion when both Akhilesh Yadav and Shivpal Yadav were expelled by the opposing factions of the party.

After the national convention, the battle between the two factions reached the Election Commission with each staking a claim to the party symbol of a bicycle. The Election Commission ruled that the symbol belonged to the Akhilesh Yadav faction.

Since then, Shivpal Yadav has been sulking, and Mulayam Singh Yadav has been lying low. The Yadav patriarch virtually played no role in electioneering, and conducted just four meetings – two for Shivpal Yadav, one for Aparna Yadav, his daughter-in-law, and one in Jaunpur for Parasnath Yadav.

Soon after the last phase of polling for the Uttar Pradesh elections, Mulayam Singh Yadav’s second wife Sadhna Yadav said that she would not keep quiet when Netaji – a reference to the Yadav patriarch – was being humiliated, and that she wanted her son Prateek Yadav to join politics.

The Samajwadi Party’s dismal performance in the elections led some to believe that the warring factions would declare a truce. The reasoning was that since the party was trounced, and lost even in its strongholds, the ambitious members of the Yadav family, who enjoyed immense clout and have now been weakened, would possibly settle their internal issues to stay united in order to face the rejuvenated BJP in the state.

However, the legislators meeting on Tuesday and the national executive meeting held last Saturday indicates that Akhilesh Yadav, at least, is in no mood to back down.

“For us, the loss in election is immaterial,” said a close Akhilesh Yadav aide. “We have a long innings to play. We need to settle things in our party. Everybody should know that SP means Akhilesh now and they should accept it.”

Said Asif Jafri, a local journalist who has been covering the party for a decade: “It is evident that Akhilesh is calling the shots. He did not even speak to Shivpal during a legislators meeting [which was called just after the results]. Azam [Khan] called Shivpal to stage, still Akhilesh did not speak. Akhilesh did not consult any one from family and went ahead with party’s national executive meet.”

Akhilesh Yadav in charge

The junior Yadav’s actions also speak for his intentions. Several decisions were taken during Saturday’s national executive meeting – the tenure of the national president was extended from three years to five years, the number of general secretary and secretary posts in the party was increased from six to 10. The post of national vice-president was increased from one to three. It was also decided that the election for the national president would be held in September.

Both Mulayam Singh Yadav and Shivpal Yadav were not present at the national executive meeting. Shivpal Yadav is not a member of its committee, while the party founder’s role still remains uncertain. Another important decision was taken at that meeting – a new post of chief general secretary was created for Akhilesh Yadav loyalist Ramgopal Yadav.

The Shivpal Yadav camp seems dejected. Deepak Mishra, a close associate of the senior party leader claimed that the situation in the Samajwadi Party, where veteran leaders were being sidelined, was not conducive to taking on the BJP in the state.

“He [Akhilesh] should take every one along,” said Mishra. “Only then can he fight against communal forces else it will be difficult. It is a tough and challenging battle ahead. Shivpalji was state president twice and is associated with SP since its inception. Workers and people know him and he has firm grip over them. He should not be ignored in this manner. It is not good both in quality and quantitative manner for SP.”

What next for sidelined veterans

If one is to believe a former Samajwadi Party Rajya Sabha member, and founder members of the Samajwadi Party who held important posts when Mulayam Singh Yadav controlled the party but have now been sidelined, the party patriarch is not averse to taking up any responsibility on the national front with the support of the BJP – a major departure from his anti-BJP political ideology.

The Samajwadi Party insiders claimed that Mulayam Singh Yadav was eyeing the post of vice-president of India, elections for which are due later this year. They say that the post is of interest to him as it will take him away from Uttar Pradesh politics where he is fast becoming redundant. It will also provide him VIP status in New Delhi, which he lost after his stint as defence minister in the nineties.

The party founder’s bonhomie with BJP leaders, including PM Narendra Modi, has been on display recently. His son Prateek Yadav and daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav have already called on the new Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath.

Shivpal Yadav has few options left. He can either remain in the party and accept his sidelined status, or form his own party – an option he has discussed with his loyalists – and start from scratch. The party veteran is perhaps not as worried about himself as he is about his son, Aditya Yadav, whose political career is yet to take off.