By IANS,
Agra : A section of the Samajwadi Party workers and junior level leaders are disappointed over the party’s decision to field Dimple Yadav, daughter-in-law of party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, for the Ferozabad Lok Sabha by-election in Uttar Pradesh.
Partymen are questioning the logic of fielding Dimple Yadav, and are asking what her contribution is, compared to other senior leaders. The candidate is the wife of Akhilesh Yadav, who vacated the Ferozabad seat for the other seat he won from Kannauj during the April-May Lok Sabha polls.
Not wanting to identify themselves, junior level leaders said this would dampen the morale of party workers who were now saying the Samajwadi Party had become a “private limited company”.
“If the heart-burn continues, many workers may choose to stay back home and become indifferent during the election campaign. Let bhaiya (Akhilesh) do all the canvassing,” said one angry party worker.
Many in Agra had hoped senior leader Ramji Lal Suman would get the ticket. He lost the election from Agra city (reserved).
Dimple Yadav’s selection, sources said, was obviously to consolidate Yadav votes and make a significant dent among Thakurs, the caste she belongs to. Ferozabad also has a sizeable Muslim population.
The Congress has fielded cine star Raj Babbar who lost from Fatehpur Sikri, while the BJP is yet to name its candidate.
The ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in the state has decided to nominate S.P. Singh Baghael again. He lost to Akhilesh Yadav earlier this year.
Poll observers rate Raj Babbar’s chances as fairly good. Babbar lost to the BSP candidate from Fatehpur Sikri by a very narrow margin, under 9,000 votes. Ferozabad holds a natural advantage for him, with Tundla, which is part of the constituency, being his birth place.
After the successful recent special convention of the party in Agra, the Samajwadis were hoping for a total overhaul of the party structure to give it a pan-Indian dimension.
“But all levers of power in the organisation are controlled by the Yadav Bandhus (brothers), with Amar Singh butting in every now and then from his hospital bed in Singapore,” an angry leader said. Party general secretary Amar Singh has been convalescing in a hospital in Singapore after a surgery there.
“Whatever the outcome of this election, one message is clear. Mulayam Singh Yadav does not trust anyone except his own kinsmen. Secondly, there is a dearth of leaders in the party. There are only kripa-patras (sychophants) and chamchas (yes-men) left in the so-called socialist outfit,” said a disgruntled junior leader of the party in Agra.
But Mulayam Singh’s supporters say winning prospects of a candidate are more important.
“Elections are fought to win and not to lose. Dimple will definitely romp home comfortably,” said a leader.
“But what of socialism? How much socialism she and her husband have imbibed over the years? What is the couple’s contribution and in what way can they inspire the youth as role models?” one old timer asked.
He and fellow veterans say Mulayam Singh should be worried that new leaders were not emerging, fresh blood was not being inducted and no effort was made to train and orient the party cadres. “The lumpen brigade cannot be trusted to usher in socialism,” says a disgruntled middle-rung leader.