Politics of Uttar Pradesh: CM Akhilesh, father Mulayam Singh Yadav and the family saga

Akhilesh Yadav is the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. He is also the son of Mulayam singh Yadav who happens to be the party president. The son is the political heir to his father’s legacy and yet he does not either enjoy the authority to govern the state the way he wants to or gloat at being his father’s son and his natural heir. Not yet. Not till Mulayam continues to call the shots as party’s helmsman. This is the underlying dichotomy that defines father-son relationship.

The Father

Akhilesh is the chief minister of one of the largest Indian states and home to almost one-sixth of India’s population. But does his writ run in the governance. The answer is a clear NO. The son has been ticked off by father on several occasions earlier too. Mulayam has publicly humiliated his son without mincing words. He has reminded his son and party workers they are nothing without him. He criticized Akhilesh for heavily relying on his officers on the eve of 2014 Lok Sabha elections. He had then said : “Take tough decisions, don’t rely on officers. We are answerable to the people, not officers.”

Though Akhilesh is heading the government it is Mulayam who not only pull the strings from behind but also puts his son on tight leash. Mulayam was instrumental in reinstating senior minister Balram Yadav in Akhilesh’s government after Akhilesh sacked him for facilitating the merger of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari’s party Quami Ekta Dal into the Samajwadi Party.

The Family

As if his roller-coaster relationship with his father was not enough, Akhilesh has inherited a host of other problems, two of which happen to be none other than his own uncles - Shivpal Singh Yadav, Mulayam’s younger brother and Ram Gopal Yadav, Mulayam’s cousin. Both uncles have not only been silent critics of the Akhilesh government but have nurtured different power centres. Mulayam plays a great pacifier here too, dousing embers of resentment and discontent. It was Mulayam again who persuaded Shivpal to take back his resignation recently. Apparently, the younger brother was miffed with his nephew Akhilesh. “There is a conspiracy against Shivpal. I cannot allow this. It will only add to party’s problems,” claimed Mulayam.

Mulayam’s latest burst of anger against his son is being read as an attempt by veteran socialist leader to keep the flock together and patch the differences between his son, the family and other senior party leaders in the run-up to the Vidhan Sabha polls in 2017.

Azam Khan

The party’s Muslim face and a long-standing friend of Mulayam Singh Yadav has often embarrassed the Akhilesh government with his tantrums. He is a constant irritant in Akhilesh’s eyes. He is another power centre and suffers from foot-in-mouth disease which has caused embarrassment to Akhilesh government on a few occasions. But due to his equation with Mulayam, Azam has always gotten away with his tantrums. In the end it is Akhilesh who has to relent despite being the chief minister of the state.

Conclusion

Perhaps, Mulayam can see the ground slipping beneath his feet.The party’s differences and the family run-ins are out in the open and have become the laughing stock of opposition parties who never fight shy of embarrassing the ruling party on this count. If the party does not put up a united front, it will have to pay a heavy price in the ensuing state elections.