oppn parties What's Brewing in the Samajwadi Party?

Story Of The Day

Assessee Not Responsible For Ensuring TDS Is Paid To The Government: Delhi HC
OPINIONS : Strongly Expressed

December 21, 2024

People Are Talking About

Rohit Warns Sarfaraz, Police Use It To Warn Two-Wheeler Riders

News Snippets

  • The Indian envoy in Bangladesh was summoned by the country's government over the breach in the Bangladesh mission in Agartala
  • Bank account to soon have 4 nominees each
  • TMC and SP stayed away from the INDIA bloc protest over the Adani issue in the Lok Sabha
  • Delhi HC stops the police from arresting Nadeem Khan over a viral video which the police claimed promoted 'enmity'. Court says 'India's harmony not so fragile'
  • Trafiksol asked to refund IPO money by Sebi on account of alleged fraud
  • Re goes down to 84.76 against the USD but ends flat after RBI intervenes
  • Sin goods like tobacco, cigarettes and soft drinks likely to face 35% GST in the post-compensation cess era
  • Bank credit growth slows to 11% (20.6% last year) with retail oans also showing a slowdown
  • Stock markets continue their winning streak on Tuesday: Sensex jumps 597 points to 80845 and Nifty gains 181 points to 24457
  • Asian junior hockey: Defending champions India enter the finals by beating Malaysia 3-1, to play Pakistan for the title
  • Chess World title match: Ding Liren salvages a sraw in the 7th game which he almost lost
  • Experts speculate whether Ding Liren wants the world title match against D Gukesh to go into tie-break after he let off Gukesh easily in the 5th game
  • Tata Memorial Hospital and AIIMS have severely criticized former cricketer and Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu for claiming that his wife fought back cancer with home remedies like haldi, garlic and neem. The hospitals warned the public for not going for such unproven remedies and not delaying treatment as it could prove fatal
  • 3 persons died and scores of policemen wer injured when a survey of a mosque in Sambhal near Bareilly in UP turned violent
  • Bangladesh to review power pacts with Indian companies, including those of the Adani group
D Gukesh is the new chess world champion at 18, the first teen to wear the crown. Capitalizes on an error by Ding Liren to snatch the crown by winning the final game g
oppn parties
What's Brewing in the Samajwadi Party?

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2016-09-14 15:30:39

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
Why Shivpal?
It is well known that Mulayam Singh Yadav has a soft corner for his younger brother Shivpal Yadav. It is equally well known that the Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo also loves his son Akhilesh. Hence, what is brewing in UP has come as a huge surprise to observers.

Attack and counter-attack
Mulayam removed Akhilesh from the post of state party chief and installed Shivpal in his place. Miffed by this, Akhilesh struck back immediately by stripping uncle Shivpal of all his important ministerial portfolios.Earlier, Akhilesh had removed some ministers and bureaucrats close to Shivpal Yadav.

Are swords being drawn?
Have the father and son duo drawn swords against each other? Further, is the close-knit family starting to break up? Shivpal Yadav has many followers within the SP and Mulayam fears a split if he is sidelined.

The other son
Mulayam has another son, Prateek, whose mother Sadhana Gupta Yadav is the second wife of the UP strongman. During the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, some party workers had asked him to let Prateek fight the elctions from Azamgarh. This was not acceptable to Akhilesh. To prevent matters from escalating, Mulayam decided to fight from two seats, including Azamgarh. But that was then. Is Prateek now staking his claim and is that the reason Mulayam is putting down Akhilesh?

Camps building up in SP
With the state already in assembly election mode, there will be several realignments. A lackluster tenure from Akhilesh has meant that SP has lost a lot of ground. There is discontent in the party regarding Akhilesh’s leadership. Recent events have shown that camps, both for and against Akhilesh, are building up fast.

Change of guard
SP workers see the reemergence of Mayawati and her party as a big threat to their backward class constituency. On the other hand, with the BJP working to consolidate the Hindu votes and wooing Dalits, some SP leaders fear a total washout. A change of guard is increasingly being preferred by many to fight anti-incumbency.

Too many questions
So is what is being seen on the surface as a family feud actually the beginning of a realignment of forces within the Samajwadi Party? Will it mean that Akhilesh will be sidelined in the run up to the polls? Will Mulayam take the reins in his hands? Or will we see the emergence of an unwilling Prateek as a counterfoil to Akhilesh?

Not all is well between father and son
The coming weeks will bring the answers to these questions. But one thing is clear – not all is good between Mulayam and Akhilesh and a willing Shivpal Yadav is being used by Mulayam to convey that.

Other Stories You Make Like

Editorials

Turmoil In Mollywood

Turmoil In Mollywood

NDA 3.0: Coalition Dharma

NDA 3.0: Coalition Dharma

In Depth

Supreme Court Gets Strict On Child Pornography

Supreme Court Gets Strict On Child Pornography

Editor's Pick

Budapest Chess Olympiad: India Are World Team Champions

Budapest Chess Olympiad: India Are World Team Champions
© 2014 India Commentary. All rights reserved.