Mulayam’s public ridicule of son Akhilesh reveals cracks in SP again
The manner in which Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav publicly rebuked his chief minister son Akhilesh Yadav on Monday (August 15) was nothing new. Mulayam has been doing so from time to time and many eyebrows are raised each time it happens.
Like earlier occasions, Akhilesh chose to explain this by pointing out, "You must understand that apart from being the party president, Netaji (Mulayam) is also my father, who has every right to say anything to his son."
However, this has often led all and sundry to wonder whether it is a manifestation of the father's mood swings or whether there is some design in such intermittent castigation of the son by the father, who has clearly been acting as a super chief minister from the day he formally anointed Akhilesh four-and-a-half years ago.
Mulayam's direct intervention in the affairs of governance became visible on day one when he got his close confidante, IAS officer Anita Singh, the key job of principal secretary to the chief minister, despite much resistance from Akhilesh.
As time went by, this only grew to an extent that the corridors of power were abuzz with talk of Uttar Pradesh having "five-and-a-half chief ministers" - with Akhilesh being jokingly described as the "half". And the "big five" being Mulayam, his brothers Shivpal and Ram Gopal, the party's Muslim face Azam Khan, and Anita Singh.
 |
| Mulayam scolding his son and UP chief minister Akhilesh is nothing new. |
With Mulayam taking the call on ministers and the four others bossing over postings and transfers of top bureaucrats and police officers, Akhilesh's role remained far restricted than what any chief minister would normally have in matters of governance. Yet, whenever it comes to fixing responsibility the super chief minister father goes about holding none other than the son "guilty".
This tendency became increasingly visible over the recent months with the next state elections getting closer. While on earlier occasions, Mulayam would play it hot and cold - an initial harsh remark would be followed by praise for undertaking large-scale development in the state - the Independence Day bashing of Akhilesh has gone a bit too far.
This time it was not just the father's routine reprimand of his son. It went to the extent of pointing an accusing finger towards the son for hatching a "conspiracy" against his "chacha" Shivpal Yadav, the most powerful multi-portfolio minister in the Akhilesh Cabinet.
Without spelling out the son's name, Mulayam made one insinuation too many against the son, who is believed to be closely aligned with the other "chacha" Ram Gopal Yadav, with whom Shivpal cannot get along.
While the feud in the ruling Yadav clan was an open secret and Akhilesh's alignment with "chacha" Ram Gopal was also common knowledge, this was the first time that Mulayam chose to shed his usual "balancing" cloak and come out openly in support of Shivpal.
Mulayam even went to the extent of expressing apprehensions about a revolt by Shivpal. "I am aware of at least two occasions when Shivpal was going to resign in protest against the humiliation he was made to face," Mulayam said aloud while addressing an Independence Day function at the party's state headquarters in Lucknow.
Each time he referred to Shivpal, he would look angrily at his son, who probably had no option but to put on a plastic smile on his embarrassed face. As if to put up a façade that all was well within the clan, a visibly victorious Shivpal made it a point to shower praise on Akhilesh, whose discomfiture was clearly visible.
If insiders are to be believed, "chacha" Shivpal felt deprived ever since Mulayam showed preference for his son instead of his brother when the Samajwadi Party government was formed in March 2012. The cold war between the two continued all along.
More recently, Shivpal became quite vocal about his differences with the "bhatija" (nephew). And things came to a head in June, when Shivpal's initiative for merger of mafia don-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari's Quami Ekta Dal (QED) with the Samajwadi Party was frustrated on account of vehement opposition by Akhilesh, who felt that the move would further reinforce the "pro-criminal" impression about the party.
Mulayam, who was all for the merger, however, felt that such a merger would enhance Samajwadi Party's clout with the Muslims of eastern Uttar Pradesh, where Ansari enjoyed considerable sway over the community.
The wily Amar Singh, who recently staged a comeback into the Samajwadi Party after being thrown out six years ago, is stated to have also stepped in on behalf of Shivpal. He was also suspected to have provoked Mulayam against an "insolent" son.
No wonder, the Samajwadi Party patriarch is understood to have now made up his mind to undo his son's decision and go for a fresh merger with the QED, so that brother Shivpal could have the last laugh.
Not long ago, Shivpal had another showdown with Akhilesh when he managed to get his close confidante Deepak Singhal planted on the chief secretary's position despite much opposition from Akhilesh, who did not wish to have anyone with a shady and controversial track record for the top job.
The key office of principal secretary to the chief minister was already occupied by another highly controversial bureaucrat, Anita Singh, with whom Akhilesh had virtually no equation.
And Amar Singh's re-entry into the scene had only made matters worse for an already isolated Akhilesh, who had earlier moved heaven and earth, along with "chacha" Ram Gopal, to keep the shrewd political juggler out.
Unlike his father, Akhilesh was of the view that far from adding any value to the party, Amar Singh's intent was evidently limited to only re-establishing his own badly-eroded political status. There were rumours about Amar Singh even lobbying for replacement of the son by the chacha at this fag end of the government's tenure, so that the latter could also get the chief minister's tag.
What the entire anti-Akhilesh lobby seems to disregard is the fact that the only credible face in the party is that of the young chief minister, who has had a big battle to fight from within.