By Faisal Fareed, TwoCircles.net
As Uttar Pradesh gears up for the upcoming elections, it is becoming increasingly clear that for Samajwadi Party, the squabble within the family remains a major concern. The acrimony which began in September is still visible, and the supporters of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and state president Akhilesh Yadav continue to remain divided.
Shivpal Yadav addressing SP rally at Bareilly with minister Riyaz Ahmed.
SP has held two major rallies so far as part of its assembly election campaign. The first was held at Ghazipur on November 23 while the second one was held at Bareilly on December 7. Both were addressed by Mulayam, but Akhilesh abstained from both the rallies.
At Ghazipur rally when Akhilesh did not arrive it was attributed due to the presence of Ansari brothers (Mukhtar, Afzal and Sibghatullah) who were prominent during the rally. It was reported that for projecting a clean image due to criminal antecedent of Mukhtar Ansari, Akhilesh stayed away.
But the same factors, or people, were not present in Bareilly. Still, Akhilesh did not attend the rally.
Leaders om the stage including Mulayam at Bareilly rally.
At both these rallies, Shivpal supporters sat in the front. At Ghazipur, sacked ministers: Om Prakash Singh, Shadab Fatima and Narad Rai, who are known to be Shivpal supporters, were busy organizing the rally and Mulayam even publicly favoured for their reinstatement. At Ghazipur, another son from the Yadav family, Aditya Yadav alias Ankur Yadav, son of Shivpal Yadav was publicly launched and he addressed the rally for the first time.
At Bareilly, Mulayam again chided Akhilesh. He openly stated that former ministers like Shivpal Yadav, Om Prakash Singh and Ambika Choudhary have been removed despite doing good work in the government. He also asked minister Gayatri Prajapati for asking Akhilesh as to why the recruitment in police department had not been completed so far. Prajapati is also a known Mulayam supporter, and like others, he too was sacked but was later reinstated after Mulayam intervened. The Yadav patriarch also did not give any hint about possible tie-up with Congress, a proposal being mooted by Akhilesh.
At both these rallies, Akhilesh supporters were given raw deal. Most of them were not invited on the stage, and the rallies were had just a few hoardings of Akhilesh, and none with both Shivpal and Akhilesh in the same frame. Even Dharmendra Yadav, who is Badaun MP and is reported to be in the Akhilesh camp, did not get a chance to address the rally at Bareilly. In last rally at same place in Bareilly in 2013 he was the convenor. The sideling of Dharmendra becomes all the more curious given that he is the only MP from the party in the entire Rohilkhand region.
Crowd at Bareilly rally.
Slogans in favour of Akhilesh also were raised in feeble voice. For three hours, Dharmendra sat quietly on the stage but did not get an opportunity to address the rally. Akhilesh supporters—Shahzl Islam, Ataurrehman, both of whom are MLAs, were also not given a chance to address the rally.
Azam Khan, the Muslim face of the party also did not attend both these rallies. Recently he is reported in media to have shifted towards Akhilesh camp. At Bareilly, another Muslim leader minister Riyaz Ahmed of Pilibhit was given importance who was also given the opportunity to conduct the rally from the stage. Riyaz justified his loyalty by stating that after Gandhi, it is Mulayam who has stood for Muslims and the community should not leave him. The previous rally held two years ago, Azam was the main speaker at Bareilly.
Recently on December 6 another event has gone against Akhilesh. Amar Singh has been appointed as member of central parliamentary board of the party, the body which officially decides tickets to candidates in assembly polls. For Amar Singh, Akhilesh has openly stated that if he had been president of party, he would have shown him door.
Akhilesh’s supporter Ramgopal was not present in both the rallies.
Meanwhile, Shivpal Yadav conveyed the message. At Bareilly, a day before the rally when asked about Akhilesh as CM face, he commented—No comments. While during addressing the rally, he openly said that next election will be fought under the leadership of Mulayam. During his whole speech he did not take name of Akhilesh.
In coming days, the tussle is likely to deepen when ticket distribution is done in the party. The two groups are yet to reconcile while the assembly elections are inching closer and this is likely to harm their prospects.