After Akhilesh Yadav's coup against
Netaji and
Pitaji Mulayam Singh Yadav, songs from the movie
"Sultan" were blaring all over Lucknow as delirious youth danced to "
Tipu Bhaiyya'' being crowned
Sultan. The song that they should have been playing was Queen's "I want to break free" - Akhilesh Yadav's favourite song. The most significant fact however, remains that while Mulayam acted swiftly against Ram Gopal Yadav and expelled him for the umpteenth time from the Samajwadi Party, officially, he has neither removed Akhilesh Yadav nor said a word against him. That tells quite a story which will take a while to unfold and impact the mother of all election battles - the Uttar Pradesh election slated to be held in February or March.
Yadav Junior has broken free from the stranglehold of five and a half uncles and his
bete noire, Amar Singh, who he used to derisively call "Shakuni Uncle" for the amount of trouble he creates within families. Yadav Junior anointed himself national President of the Samajwadi Party and consigned its founder to the
"Margdarshak Mandal'' in a case of LK Advani. Akhilesh's public show of strength with nearly 80 percent of the party's MLAs supporting him caused dismay in the trio of Shivpal Yadav, Aparna Yadav, Sadhana Gupta who were on constant calls with Amar Singh, who has departed London for India.
Interestingly, Samajwadi strongman Azam Khan who loathes Amar Singh had brokered a truce between father and son amidst much melodrama with tears and
shayri on both sides. Sources say that Mulayam Singh even told Azam Khan that he was proud of Tipu's popularity, which seems to indicate that he knows that today, his son is more popular than him and that this cuts across the traditional Yadav vote-bank, the mainstay of the party. It's still unclear what changed after the truce, but Mulayam brought this fate upon himself. Initially, Akhilesh did not want to replace his father; he wanted Amar Singh's head and Shivpal Yadav to be cut to size with no say in ticket distribution. In the parallel ticket list issued by Akhilesh, politically ambitious sister-in-law Aparna also did not find a place.
In true Mahabharata style, Sadhana, Mulayam Singh's second wife, who Yadav Junior once allegedly slapped and for which he was banished from the house, prevailed on the 77-year-old
Netaji to go back on the truce as she saw power ebbing from her side of the family. Thus, Ram Gopal Yadav was expelled again.
The on-going soap opera indicates four things:
1) A generational change has happened in the Samajwadi Party as Akhilesh emerges as the supreme leader in an identical parallel with Sasikala Natarajan in Tamil Nadu. While
Netaji has issued letters declaring today's convention invalid and expelling Ram Gopal for the second time and finally calling him an agent of the BJP, with legislators firmly backing his son, all this is moot.
2) Akhilesh Yadav and Mulayam Singh both plan to approach the Election Commission over the SP name and symbol but sources close to Akhilesh say that his camp is not fussed as an alternate name and the symbol of a tree are ready. Said a loyalist, "
Maan lijeye Netaji koh naam or symbol mil jaye toh kya hua? Cadre
toh Tipu bhaiyya kei saath hai. Netaji sirf Amit Shah
ki madad kar rahe hain. Voter
sab milli bhagat samjata hai" (Even if Netaji gets the SP name and symbol so what? The SP cadre is with Tipu. Netaji is only helping Amit Shah. The voters understand everything).
3) Akhilesh's takeover has cleared the way for an alliance with the Congress and Ajit Singh's RLD in what can be only be described as a "mini
gatbandhan''. Yadav, however, will deal directly with Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi and will not brook any interference from any middlemen. This is likely to happen sooner rather than later.
4) Akhilesh has been planning this shrewd move for a while. The 24x7 advertisement campaign he has been running across all media showcases himself and his nuclear family of wife Dimple and kids and highlights the "developmental work'' he has done as Chief Minister. He calls all of UP his family in what is quite a snub to his real family who find no mention.
Yadav Junior wants to emphasise Brand Akhilesh as a mascot for "governance'' and
"yuva peedhi" (new generation) and focus less on his second name. He realises that the SP will need to widen its voter base and appeal to a cross-section of voters. His tenure has Chief Minister has ensured that he has total name recall all over UP and at every
chai shop, groups gather and express sympathy for the hard done by
bhaiyya. Mulayam by his actions has already ensured that public sympathy is with the "dutiful son''. The SP cadre is confused and torn between father and son but most say that Mulayam, who by making Akhilesh Chief Minister had passed on the baton, is trying to snatch it back which is quite distasteful.
So what happens next?
Mulayam is slated to come to Delhi on Monday where he will meet his consigliere Amar Singh, who is his main conduit to the BJP. It may be recalled that even after his expulsion from the SP, when Singh had an organ transplant in Singapore, Union Finance Ministry Arun Jaitley, then in the opposition, and his friend, India TV owner Rajat Sharma had taken a chartered flight to see Singh. Singh's links to the BJP are deep and abiding. He has always been Mulayam's link to other parties, Bollywood and big business.
Other parties who are in the UP fray are quite delighted at the Yadav wars. Amar Singh's NBF Amit Shah scents an opportunity, despite the demonetisation voter disenchantment, and so does Mayawati.
The Congress is happy that it can remain relevant by allying with the Yadav Junior faction. But, says a BSP leader with acuity, "Mulayam is
pehelwan (wrestler), while Junior plays cricket. Hardly any rules apply in wrestling so this could even be a
pehelwan's way of anointing his son while ensuring his extended and second family is appeased.''
Noora Kushti (fixed fight), anyone?
(Swati Chaturvedi is an author and a journalist who has worked with The Indian Express, The Statesman and The Hindustan Times.)Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.