New Delhi: The knives are out in the first family of the Samajwadi Party (SP) once again, and this even before the final vote is cast in the ongoing Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.
On Tuesday, Sadhna Yadav, wife of party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, signalled her desire to see her son Prateek Yadav enter politics. Though she was careful to qualify her statement by stating she would like to see her step-son Akhilesh Yadav as the chief minister once again, the contradiction in her remarks was evident.
The political messaging of her intervention, a day before the final phase of voting in Uttar Pradesh, is clear: create a rival power centre within an already divided family. That could potentially hurt voter turnout for the Samajwadi Party. Discussing the family dispute in public for the first time, Sadhna Yadav maintained that due respect had not been shown to the party patriarch and that Akhilesh Yadav had promised to restore status quo after three months.
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Sadhna Yadav also seemed to suggest that Shivpal Yadav, Mulayam Yadav’s brother who has been effectively sidelined, hasn’t been treated fairly.
“Whatever happened, Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav) should not have been disrespected. He has made this party after a lot of hard work and has dedicated his entire life to it. I don’t know how Akhilesh (Yadav) did all this but he does not have anything against his father; Akhilesh respects his father. Akhilesh has said that he will return everything to Netaji after three months. I want that our party should come to power and Akhilesh should become the chief minister,” she said, adding that Akhilesh Yadav had been “misled”.
On being asked if she too wanted to become an MP, she said, “I don’t want to, but I want it for my son Prateek.” Prateek’s wife Aparna Yadav is an Samajwadi Party candidate in the assembly elections.
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Senior leaders of the Samajwadi Party feel that the remarks signal a clear attempt to undermine the leadership of Akhilesh Yadav within the organization by trying to promote Prateek Yadav and create another power centre in the Samajwadi Party.
“This is just an attempt to challenge the leadership of Akhilesh Yadav but this will not work now in Samajwadi Party because most of the tickets to contestants was given by Akhilesh Yadav and this is a new Samajwadi Party which is being led by the chief minister,” said a Lucknow-based senior leader of Samajwadi Party.
It was a dispute over who gets to have a bigger say in the ticket distribution process for the ongoing assembly polls which had triggered a rift in the Yadav family, sparking a power struggle between Akhilesh Yadav and his father Mulayam Singh, who was supported by his brother, Shivpal Yadav. After Shivpal Yadav was made the party’ state president last year, replacing the chief minister, the party saw a series of sackings and counter-sackings by both the camps.
However, with the majority of the party on his side, Akhilesh Yadav became national president of the party, replacing his father. Shivpal Yadav was expelled from SP at the party’s national convention on 1 January.
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The Election Commission’s decision to assign the party symbol (the cycle) to the Akhilesh Yadav faction cemented the chief minister’s claim on the party.
Analysts say Sadhna Yadav’s statement may not have any bearing on the polls. “The timing of the statement establishes that it is politically motivated; however, it won’t have the desired impact. The last phase of polling is happening in areas which have been a Samajwadi Party bastion and such remarks won’t be able to make a dent in Samajwadi Party’s performance,” said Ramesh Dixit, a Lucknow-based political analyst.
