Explained: Why Akhilesh Yadav did not host the SP’s annual Iftaar party

The fact that he did not host the Iftaar party was even noticed by BBC which ran a piece on it.

New Delhi, May 05: Politicians have hosted many Iftaar parties. Recently Bihar Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar was hosted by Tejashwi Yadav for an Iftaar party along with others in Patna.

However this year, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief, Akhilesh Yadav did not host his annual Iftar party in Lucknow. He however did go out to attend three Iftaar parties this year.

The fact that he did not host the Iftaar party was even noticed by BBC which ran a piece on it.

Many say that this could be because of the party's loss in the recently concluded Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. Even when the SP lost power in 2017, it did host the Iftaar party. However, the party did not host the party in 2020 and 2021 due to the restrictions owing to COVID-19.

Now questions are being raised as to why the SP did not host the Iftaar party. Professor Manoj Dixit, former vice-chancellor of Dr RML Awadh University tells IndiaToday.in that earlier all parties did minoritarianism politics as they benefitted from it. However now particularly after the UP elections majoritarianism as a counter-strategy has become stronger. Now parties know that they cannot be associated only with the minorities as it risks upsetting the majority voters, he also added.

Even during the campaign, Chief Minster, Yogi Adityanath used references such as 'Abba Jaan,' to target Akhilesh Yadav and his appeasement politics. S K Dwivedi, a professor at Lucknow University told India Today that not hosting an Iftaar party is an attempt to reach out to non-Muslim, non-Yadav voters.

Branding them as Bhakts is clearly not working out for the SP, he also added.