Revision as of 21:25, 3 July 2016

Samajwadi Parrty: Family ties; Graphic courtesy: The Times of India, July 2, 2016

Bahujan Party: Some breakaways; Graphic courtesy: The Times of India, July 2, 2016

2016: Family feuds

The Times of India, Jul 02 2016

Subhash Mishra

Four years ago when he became UP's youngest chief minister, Akhilesh took on his chin the jibes of UP having “four-anda-half CMs“ -the four being his father Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, uncles Ram Gopal and Shivpal and Mulayam's closest aide Azam Khan. Akhilesh was the half. He has come a long way since. As the 43-year-old CM pushes through with his decisions, the fault lines within the family seem to be wide in the open: the latest is the friction over the SP taking into its fold Qaumi Ekta Dal, the party founded by three Ansari brothers, one of whom, goon-MLA Mukhtar Ansari is behind bars for the murder of an ex-BJP MLA. In the swift actionreaction that played out over barely a week, Shivpal announced the merger with QED, believed to be Mulayam's idea. Akhilesh sacked the minister who facilitated the merger, then took a step back to announce there were no differences within the family . Within a day though, SP called off the merger and the father-son duo seemed to have called a truce.As the merger was cancelled, Akhilesh took the minister back. The incident has left uncle Shivpal a bitter man. But this is only the latest in a string of issues where the SP's traditional balance of power has been upset. For years the unwritten code was Mulayam called the shots and Shivpal executed his orders as more and more family members became netas. The Mulayam clan today is easily India's biggest political family: there are, at last count, 20 members holding political office including a chief minister, six MPs and a senior minister.

It wasn't for nothing that a few months after Akhilesh was made CM that MSY showed his irritation over Akhilesh's ministers' poor performance. It was then seen as a father advising his `obedient' son. Akhilesh was expected to follow tradition, strike a fine balance working on the orders of his father and uncle.

But Akhilesh has bent the father-uncle axis on many decisions ever since his father nominated him CM after SP's landslide win in 2012; a move that had reportedly made Shivpal unhappy . “He's been Mulayam's Man Friday for nearly two decades. He believed he was the heir apparent,“ says a political observer.At the time, uncle Ram Gopal stood solidly behind Akhilesh, and he was made CM.

Shivpal gradually came around, reconciled to his role as the Number Two in the government. However, when his political initiatives were overturned one after the other -in most cases at Akhilesh's insistence -his patience wore thin, say supporters.

Three instances have hurt him in particular. It was Shivpal who had formalised the pre-poll grand alliance `mahagathbandhan' in Bihar, attending several meetings to make it a reality. But just before the polls Mulayam walked out of the alliance; the two votaries against the `gathbandhan' were Akhilesh and Ram Gopal. Shivpal's second bid at forging an alliance with Rashtriya Lok Dal was publicly denounced by both Akhilesh and Ram Gopal. And now the QED fiasco.

Over the QED merger, Shivpal has also been painted as someone who does not hesitate to hobnob with lawless elements such as Mukhtar Ansari. To mark his protest, however muted, Shivpal skipped two programmes he had to attend with Akhilesh, including the swearing-in of new ministers. This triggered talk of a full-blown family tussle. Two days later, Shivpal turned up at brother Ram Gopal's 70th birthday celebrations, but it is said the warm vibes were missing.

The fissures in the open couldn't have shown up at a worse time -elections are months away . Not helping matters was the reportedly significant clash between the partychief father and CM-son over candidature to a family member. Aparna Yadav is Mulayam's younger son's wife. Mulayam has already announced her as party nominee from Lucknow Cantt, a move that Akhilesh had no idea about and reportedly wasn't for it. But understandably, he didn't make an issue of it.

The latest QED spat played out in public months before the end of Akhilesh's CMship.With a strong BJP on the one hand, and an unpredictable Mayawati on the other, the SP family's widening schisms can make the poll road a tricky manoeuvre.