The autumn of the patriarch

Shahira Naim in Lucknow

Peoples’ poet Adam Gondvi (1947-2011) clearly did not have the present Samajwadi Party crisis in mind when he wrote the scathing lines:

Pakkey Samajwadi hain, 

taskar hon ya dacoit

Itna asar hai khadi ke ujley libas mein

(Hardcore socialist are they — smugglers or dacoits; such is the clout of the white khadi garb)

The kind of unparliamentary language and wild behaviour witnessed on the streets outside the Samajwadi Party headquarters in Lucknow and the official residences of the main protagonist of the rapidly unfolding drama made one wonder if the Samajwadi label was licence enough for such scandalous behaviour.

Party patriarch Mulaym Singh Yadav (76), popularly known as ‘netaji’ (addressed as such by even son Akhilesh), is clearly losing his famous iron-like grip over the party that he formed exactly a quarter of a century ago is now quite apparent. While the SP is preparing to celebrate the silver jubilee of its formation with great fanfare on November 5, the event coincides with the nullification of what it stood for.

Netaji’s wish was command for the family, party and till recently the government – until things changed this week. Most Samajwadi stalwarts   Janeshwar Mishra, Brij Bhushan Tiwari, Mohan Singh and Mohammad Azam Khan who along with Mulayam had formed the party   were later marginalized.  All of them are no more, except for Azam who had returned to the party fold when Amar Singh was thrown out in 2010. Under the influence of Amar Singh, Samajwadi Party was virtually reinvented shifting from its Lohia-inspired ideological framework to Amar Singh inspired strange motley of ‘corporate-Bollywood & family-first’ brand of politics which gave credence to netaji’s kinship ties rather than to those who were of his ideological kind.

Members of the Yadav family multiplied in the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, Vidhan Sabha, Zila panchyats and even village panchats making the Yadav family the largest political family in the Hindi heartland.  Interestingly, Mulayam who professes to be a Samajwadi opposed to nepotism and feudalism in politics has at least 10 family members holding responsible positions in electoral politics. Obviously, all family members till now had been forever servile and completely dependent on Mulayam’s goodwill for their political survival and future   till things perceptibly changed this week. 

The infamous meeting of Samajwadi Party MPs, MLAs, MLCs and other senior leaders that the party patriarch had summoned on October 24 saw this family-held party virtually falling apart before the very eyes of the man who had assiduously nurtured the family-controlled party within a democratic framework.

The irony was that the whole proceeding was shown live. None of the regrettable behaviour of responsible family members and functionaries could be denied as misreporting or being quoted out of context. Chacha and UP SP president Shivpal snatched the mike from bhatija chief minister Akhilesh Yadav while he was sharing alleged conspiracies being hatched against him allegedly by Amar Singh roaring “ Mukhya mantri jhoot bol rahe hain” (the chief minister is a liar). 

Taking the clue from the Shivpal, his supporters physically attacked Akhilesh’s supporters in the crowd and soon it was chaos. A dejected Mulayam present on the dais could do little to rein in his brother, son or their unmanageable supporters. His security personnel had to bundle him out fearing a threat from his own family and party members.

Mulayam addressed a press conference the very next day. For the first time he had a prepared script, once again a sign of his losing grip. Claiming that there were no differences within the family or party, Mulayam’s declaration cut no ice as Akhilesh chose not to be present to endorse it. What has caused a seemingly unbridgeable rift between father and son is Akhilesh breaking the time-honoured terms of the family contract to remain in active politics.  After letting Mulaym rule through remote control for almost four-and-a-half years, Akhilesh decided to come into his own.

There are theories of what triggered this self-assertion. It is believed that it is mainly distrust of Amar Singh and his step-mother who are increasingly gaining control of his father as he is rapidly losing grip.  Akhilesh wanted to go for a second term on the basis of his merit and good governance. For example, he wishes to benefit from moves like establishing a world record in bridging the digital divide by distributing 18 lakh laptops to youth of small towns and rural areas.

He and as most of his generation next Samajwadi supporters are a confident lot not depending on durbar-savvy skills of an Amar Singh to make their presence felt on the national scene.

As a result, the Samajwadi Party led by the old order of Mulayam and Shivpal and the government headed by Akhilesh and his brand of development-oriented politics are functioning in two different orbits. With Vidhan Sabha elections just round the corner, such disconnect between the party and government is clearly suicidal.

A resurgent BJP has been quick to take advantage. Every development in the SP has been cashed in by leaders from PM Modi to Amit Shah and state president Keshav Prasad Maurya hitting out at corruption and division of booty being the root cause of the family rift.

Many analysts think that BSP president Mayawati would step in to fill the vacuum created by a visibly dissipating SP. There is a view that a section of SP’s Muslim supporters may shift to the BSP if the perception gains ground that the SP is now no longer in a position to keep the BJP out.

However, the BSP suprmeo Mayawati herself has made no move towards making this happen. In fact she has remained silent on the SP family feud. During various election meetings last week her close aide SC Mishra wrote off the SP altogether asking people if such a party existed. To shift attention from the damaging family tussle hogging media attention, Mulayam and Shivpal have suddenly become proactive in reviving the grand alliance.

They have invited Gandhi, Lohia and Charan Singh followers to the silver jubilee celebrations on November 5 to realign such forces to keep communal forces at bay. But is anyone really taking them seriously?