A trial by fire for Mulayam

Remember the fairy tales that you heard in your childhood? The ups and downs of the stories, the rapidly changing circumstances and the dilemmas of the characters

Remember the fairy tales that you heard in your childhood? The ups and downs of the stories, the rapidly changing circumstances and the dilemmas of the characters filled you with excitement. This is what is happening in the extended clan of Mulayam Singh Yadav, the first family of Uttar Pradesh.

HT Image

I am reminded of the night of December 31, 2011. A friend had invited me to attend a New Year’s Eve party in Agra. I met one Mr Yadav at the party. He said he hailed from Etawah and ‘Netaji’ was his childhood friend. During our chat, Mr Yadav made two prophecies with a lot of confidence. First, the Samajwadi Party will form the government with a full majority in the next assembly elections. Second, Akhilesh will be chief minister.

At that party, opinion was divided on whether the Samajwadi Party would indeed form the government. But nobody was ready to believe that Akhilesh would be the next chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. The question was raised if Mulayam appointed his son chief minister, what would he himself do? Was he in the race to be prime minister? What will be the fate of Shivpal and Ramgopal Yadav in such an eventuality? Will Mulayam’s brothers not be worried about their own ‘careers’ as well as the ‘careers’ of their children?

The person claiming that Akhilesh will be CM staunchly defended his prediction. If you look at history you will realise that every king has bequeathed his kingdom either to his son, or his daughter or son-in-law.

Two and a half months later, the Samajwadi Party romped home with a clear majority. By that time I had forgotten the name of the gentleman who made the Nostradamus-like prediction at the New Year’s party. But I remembered his second prediction: that Akhilesh will be CM. Would that actually happen? I clearly remember that afternoon when Ramgopal Yadav told a TV reporter: “I’ll be happy if Akhilesh becomes the chief minister.” Within a few hours, Shivpal retorted: “Party MLAs will decide who becomes chief minister.” Clearly, the die had been cast.

Akhilesh became chief minister and in addition got the responsibility of becoming the leader of the Samajwadi Party. Shivpal Yadav took charge of irrigation, public works department and other important portfolios. How long would this arrangement work? The arrangement dragged on for four years. In the public realm, Mulayam Singh was known as the ‘Supremo’ and Ramgopal and Shivpal as his ‘generals’. When opposition parties made fun of Akhilesh as a ‘child’ and ‘half-chief minister’, the chief minister decided to ignore them and carry out his responsibilities.

As a result, he has a distinct image in Uttar Pradesh today. The first of the three factors behind the creation of Brand Akhilesh is his clean and fair image. The second is the perception of him as the boy-next-door. He goes on holidays with his family like any other working professional and shares their photos on social media. This has struck a chord with middle-class youth.

Third, taking a break from party tradition, he has built his image as a leader who is against criminals and their proliferation in politics. This is the apparent reason for the conflict that began in June. But it would be wrong to consider this the actual reason. Actually, the Samajwadi Party is going through a difficult phase of generational change.

Five members of the family are in the Lok Sabha and one in the Rajya Sabha. Many other relatives, family members and their favourites occupy key seats in the government and the party organisation. That’s why they want to increase their stakes in power. All these people have played a part in forming and developing the Samajwadi Party on a number of occasions. That is why they want their share in the government. This rising ambition creates an impending clash. So far Mulayam has used his stature to keep his clan together, but with time, even his difficulties are rising.

Mulayam is trying to deviate from his contemporaries and create a unique legacy of his own. After assuming power in 2012, he clearly defined and divided the responsibilities of governance between Akhilesh, Ramgopal and Shivpal Yadav. This included appointment of bureaucrats, party organisation and other day-to-day responsibilities. But clearly, ambition does not bother about boundaries.

For now, Mulayam Singh has used his veto to douse flamed passions. But how stable can these arrangements be? Shivpal has got some of his portfolios back and he will remain the Samajwadi state chief.

In return, Akhilesh wants a complete say in ticket distribution. Both chacha-bhatija (uncle and nephew) have their eyes on the elections due in a few months. On Saturday afternoon, supporters of both nephew Akhilesh and uncle Shivpal were again confronting each other in Lucknow. This has put a question mark on the possibilities of a truce. Clearly, at this phase in life, Mulayam has to pass a trial by fire again. As happens in fairy tales, it isn’t necessary that every exciting story should have a happy ending.

Shashi Shekhar is editor in chief, Hindustan