By Siddhant Mohan, TwoCircles.net
Akhilesh Yadav, former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and national president of Samajwadi Party, attended a rally organised by Janwadi Socialist Party, a small political party of the eastern part of the state, in Varanasi on Sunday.
The rally was organised in the memory of Prithviraj Chauhan, a 12th-century king from northern India, and was dominated by the people belonging to Chauhan community. By attending the rally on Sunday, Akhilesh Yadav hinted that he and his party might be interested in a coalition with several small parties in Uttar Pradesh before next general elections in the country.
Akhilesh Yadav lashed out at the central and the state government — both of which are governed by Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) — and said the BJP is a shiny and fancy party, which succeeds in luring people to vote but it does not do work on the ground.
“Has corruption stopped in Uttar Pradesh or in the country? There is no decline in crime in UP, yet Yogi Adityanath claims to do so every day,” added Yadav. “Whenever CM Yogi claims that law and order have been restored in the state, we witness one fresh case of loot and robbery.”
SP’s national president also accused the state government of facing failure in keeping illegal sand mining under check. He also joked on BJP’s rhetoric of giving 1.5 million in the bank account of every Indian, “Next budget has passed recently and we still do not have that money in our account which BJP promised during 2014 elections.”
The rally, however, was organised mainly by the Janwadi Socialist Party, but Samajwadi Party was also playing a key role in managing the crowd. From the Varanasi airport to the rally ground, it was the ground cadre of Samajwadi Party which welcomed Akhilesh Yadav at every place in the way. But rally ground was almost filled with the supporters of Janwadi Socialist Party, and workers and supporters of Samajwadi Party were not allowed to raise their party flags or slogans on the rally ground.
It is indeed a fact that followers of Prithviraj Chauhan follow a soft Hindutva politics, but it has a strong alienation with the ultra-nationalist ideology of BJP. After all, it was Chauhan’s defeat and death in 1192 CE which many historians have considered as a chapter which led to the Islamic conquest of India. Originally considered to be Rajputs, now the Chauhan community, however, does not only belong to the Rajput section of the society but regardless of whether they are Rajputs or not, they have an emotional link with Prithviraj Chauhan.
With Akhilesh attending a rally in the name of Prithviraj Chauhan, one may get confused that why a ‘socialist’ leader has been attending such a rally, but Sunil Singh Yadav, Member of Legislative Council and spokesperson of Samajwadi Party gives an insight of what SP is up to. Sunil Singh Yadav said, “Samajwadi Party, under the leadership of Akhilesh Yadav, is now trying to reach out to small groups and individuals which do not believe in the kind of politics which BJP does. Akhilesh Yadav’s Varanasi visit was one chapter in the same practice.”
“But for later, we are keeping our chances open for a coalition with all the small groups in Uttar Pradesh and around,” added SP Spokesperson.
On the question of whether such practice is a planned approach or arbitrary, Yadav said nothing but he agreed to the fact that party is open to talking with every section in order to defeat Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.