Parties squabble as Yogi moves on

But since nothing is ideal in politics, the behaviour post-election of these parties is unfolding more in the form of squabbles getting worse.

Lucknow, April 1: The debilitating defeat suffered by the Samajwadi Party, Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party in Uttar Pradesh should have, ideally, come to them as a signal to do a reality check of where they are going and where they should go now. But since nothing is ideal in politics, the behaviour post-election of these parties is unfolding more in the form of squabbles getting worse.

The Samajwadi Party, which has been reeling under a severe intra-party crisis for the last seven months, has apparently not come to terms with the fact that the family/party conflict could have been one of the major reasons for its defeat in the recent Assembly election. Rather, party functionaries are busy toeing the line shown by former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won because it "fooled" the people. What is more, a strange explanation is also being given out that the people of UP do not want the Akhilesh model of "development."

For Akhilesh Yadav, SP's national president since January, who had tried hard to seek a return to power on the strength of whatever work he had initiated in the state and the association with Rahul Gandhi's Congress, now it is easy to take potshots at chief minister Yogi Adityanath. But the fact that Yogi's attempts towards cleanliness, crime control, punctuality and enforcing discipline are being widely welcomed by the people indicates what the people expect from the government. On his part, Akhilesh continues to grapple with differences in the party over who should have control. He has been elected the leader of the 47-member SP Legislative Party in both Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha) and Legislative Council (Vidhan parishad), and has also got veteran Ram Govind Chaudhary named as Leader of the Opposition.

But senior leaders Shivpal Yadav and Mohammad Azam Khan, did not attend the legislators' meeting on March 28. Both have won from their respective seats in

Jaswantnagar (Etawah) and Rampur, respectively and both expected to be contenders for the SPLP leader's post. Mulayam Singh Yadav cancelled a dinner meeting with the 47 newly-elected legislators to be held a day later, as a message had been conveyed to the MLAs to attend only those party meetings convened by Akhilesh Yadav.

On Saturday April 1, in his address at a function in Mainpuri, Mulayam gave vent to his disappointment at the environment within the party. He referred to a reference to Akhilesh by Modi during the election campaign that how could a man who insulted his father be loyal to the people of the state, and said not only Modi was right, but the statement had helped voters make up their minds against the SP. He also said no one handed over power and position to his son despite being active in political life, "but I did it," and yet, he added, Akhilesh had "ditched" him.

"The people had voted for me as the Chief Minister in 2012 and yet I chose to make Akhilesh the Chief Minister, but he humiliated me. I have never been insulted so much ever in my life," he lamented.
On the other hand, the SP's alliance partner Congress is facing a commotion with leaders raising questions over the alliance and the reasons for the party's poor show. Sanjay Dikshit, convenor of programme cell in the UP Congress had recently commented in social media on certain leaders including the UPCC president for their role in the party's defeat.

The chairman of UPCC disciplinary committee has sent a notice to Dikshit seeking his explanation. Earlier, two other leaders Ramendra Janvaar and Naseeb Pathan had also questioned the usefulness of the alliance. Some other leaders have been openly critical of the alliance and the role played by Prashant Kishore and others. Many of them have been demanding a change on the state Congress leadership even as UPCC president Raj Babbar had offered to resign in the wake of the election results two weeks ago.

The UPCC office in Lucknow has been wearing a deserted look and motley groups of people and office bearers can be seen talking listlessly about what lies ahead for them in the party.

The scenario in the BSP is no less different with Mayawati having tried hard to turn EVM's credibility into an issue. The party has decided to observe April 11 as protest day to highlight the so-called faults in the EVMs. At the same time, reports suggest that a rebellion is brewing within the party and several district and zonal level office bearers are contemplating to quit the party and constitute a new forum to raise issues pertaining to Dalits.

Many BSP leaders feel that the BSP had moved away from its main objective of caring for the Dalits, and with the BJP having made inroads into the Dalit community, it would be very difficult for the BSP to reclaim its position.

But interestingly, there does not appear any attempt in any of the three parties to take honest stock of the situation, assess ground realities and re-organise party workers and supporters. As a result, Yogi-bashing has replaced Modi-bashing even as the people continue to expect miracles from the saffron-robed chief minister.

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