Yadav Meltdown Bodes Ill for Poll-bound Party

 Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav has managed to broker peace among his warring family members for the time being but the rift may resurface once lists of candidates are prepared for the upcoming elections in the state.

- Mudit Mathur

Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav has ultimately brokered peace among his waring family members that virtually pushed the party to sink just ahead of crucial Assembly polls. The dents it suffered would definitely cause erosion in its rank and file. Politically speaking, it was Act One of a high drama to pull each other down to prove their supremacy with the ultimate aim of inheriting the legacy of Mulayam, whose struggle established the party to power in the largest north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

The party will surely witness deeper trouble in Act Two when candidates would be finally declared to contest polls.

Apparently, overambitious family members of the Yadav clan have divided the house of the Samajwadi Party. It is now heading for a debacle in forthcoming Assembly elections despite hard work and developmental change brought by the young Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. Opposition parties like BJP, BSP and Congress have scored a lot from the family feud and are marching ahead of their capabilities.

The infighting in the ruling family delayed Akhilesh Yadav’s electoral campaign — Samajwadi Vikas Rath Yatra — designed to showcase developmental achievements of his governance. Instead, inner bickering has put the Samajwadi Party into the most disadvantaged position in the electoral race. The chief minister’s plan to regain the throne of political heart of the national polity, Uttar Pradesh, is lagging much behind his political rivals — Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and even the Congress party has revived its lost energy to come out from oblivion.