Samajwadi Party
The Times of India
The Times of India
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2016: Family feuds
The Times of India
The Times of India
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.
The rift of Sept 2016
Crisis originated at Amar’s party?
It All Began at Amar Singh's 5-Star Bash?
When Mulayam Singh Yadav attended a glittering do hosted by long-time associate and party MP Amar Singh at a Delhi 5-star hotel on Sunday night, little did he know it would trigger a family feud, endangering his party's prospects months ahead of the assembly elections.
The avalanche of trouble got activated at this party, attended by Mulayam's younger brother Shivpal Yadav and former chief secretary (sacked by CM Akhilesh Yadav after the event) Deepak Singhal. Akhilesh, who's always had reservations over Amar Singh's proximity to Mulayam and his return to SP , was not present.
At the gathering, Amar Singh, in Singhal's presence, is learnt to have told Mulayam that CBI was zeroing in on Gayatri Prajapati, then state mining minister and his arrest could spell trouble for the family , party and the government.
On Monday , Mulayam called Amar Singh and Singhal to his Delhi residence, insiders told TOI. When both stood by what they had said the previous night, Mulayam apparently called Akhilesh and asked him to change the portfolios of Prajapati and Raj Kishore Singh.
Akhilesh, unhappy with both, sacked them.
On Tuesday , Prajapati met Mulayam in Delhi. He insist ed that Amar Singh and Sin ghal's claims were baseless.
Sources close to the party su premo said Gayatri convinced Mulayam that he was being made a victim of injustice.
This made Mulayam ask Akhilesh to re move Singhal. The CM, said to be displeased with Singhal, followed the orders.
Stung by the action, Sin ghal rushed to Mulayam and clarified that he did not have a view on the ministers. He had been merely listening to Amar Singh.
Soon Amar Singh, in Luc know till Tuesday forenoon, flew to Delhi and met Mulay am, and pleaded with him to reinstate Singhal. It is learnt that Mulayam called Akhilesh again on Tuesday , asking him to reinstate Singhal, Prajapati and Raj Kishore Singh.
Akhilesh turned down the request, sources said, saying this would send out a wrong message so close to the polls and ahead of his state-wide campaign. Mulayam then tried to rope in cousin Ram Gopal Yadav to convince Akhilesh. But the CM held his ground. Annoyed, Mulayam got him removed from the state president's post and handed it over to Shivpal.
Akhilesh hit back stripping Shivpal of key portfolios -PWD, irrigation, co-operatives and revenue.Shivpal, who was at Etawah, left for Delhi on Wednesday and met Mulayam.
CM not mollified
TWO KEY FIGURES AT THE HEART OF THE RIFT IN LUCKNOW'S FAMILY NO. 1
In the eye of the latest storm that's hit the SP family , Gayatri Prasad Prajapati has had MSY's support for long. He first sprung on the `SP notables' stage when he shared space with the brass at a 2011 Agra convention and announced a donation of Rs 25 lakh to the party.
Armed with a poverty card, the property dealer went on to defeat Congressman Sanjay Sinh's wife Amita Sinh to win Amethi in the 2012 assembly polls -his first victory in the Congress stronghold, having contested from here regularly since 1993. Once he won, he hired a PR agency , a first for any SP neta. Prajapati was rewarded with position of junior minister of irrigation under Shivpal in February 2013.
Thereafter, he took oath with every expansion till January 2014 -from being MoS mining to getting independent charge in 2013. He was made cabinet minister for mining in January 2014.
Akhilesh Yadav may have sacked him over graft charges on Monday , but corruption allegations aren't new to Prajapati. Before the 2002 polls, he had declared his net worth at Rs 91,436.By 2012, his immovable assets were worth Rs 1.2 crore, movable assets Rs 51 lakh.
A complaint with the Lokayukta ac cused him of owning assets worth Rs 942 crore. Although the former Lokayukta, NK Mehrotra, gave him a clean chit, RTI activist Nutan Thakur and IPS officer Amitabh Thakur got a court order to file an FIR against Prajapati.
That FIR was allegedly followed by a call from Mulayam to Thakur, who lodged a police complaint accusing the SP chief of threatening him. The episode brought the SP disrepute but did not dent his support for Prajapati. He has run to MSY this time too, but this time the complaint is against the chief 's son.
