Samajwadi Party sources claim that Shivpal has withdrawn himself from party activities and decision-making. He may also stay out of the Assembly elections.
Even though Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has won the battle for the Samajwadi Party symbol 'bicycle', his tracks are full of hurdles.
Though Mulayam Singh Yadav has blessed his son and given him the go-ahead for the polls, there are others such as Shivpal Yadav, Ambika Chowdhary and Amar Singh who have been left disgruntled.
Samajwadi Party sources claim that Shivpal has withdrawn himself from party activities and decision-making. He may also stay out of the Assembly elections.
The caveat filled in the Supreme Court by Akhilesh's uncle and confidant Ram Gopal Yadav suggests that the UP CM foresees challenges ahead. Seat-sharing is another issue which is expected to give the CM a tough time, who, as the national President of the party, is inexperienced in alliance politics. Such decisions were always taken by Mulayam in the past.
The party has already expressed its willingness to ally with other political outfits, especially Congress and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and there are several seats where there is a clash of interests. For example, Congress is demanding seats in Rae Bareli and Amethi – the parliamentary constituencies of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, respectively. These seats belong to the SP at present. Congress which is aiming for the 2019 general elections wants to strengthen its hold on the assembly segments of these two Lok Sabha seats. Similarly, RLD wants a major portion of seats in Western UP where Congress, too, is claiming its share. Adjustment of a few candidatesfrom the list that Mulayam has given to Akhilesh is another problematic area. For example, the seat of Aparna Yadav, Mulayam's second daughter-in-law, belongs to Congress, which was won by Rita Bahuguna Joshi before she joined the BJP, and which Congress would like to keep.
Interestingly, Aparna had been working on this seat for nearly two years and would not like to move to some other constituency. This partly explains the delay in announcing the alliance. The other problem before Akhilesh Yadav will be to maintain a distance from politicians with criminal records such as Raghuraj Pratap Singh 'Raja Bhaiya', Mukhtar Ansari, Ateeq Ahmad. So far, the UP CM has established himself as someone who would keep away from tainted politicians. This has delayed the final list of candidates.
"It is certain that despite the victory over the symbol, it is not easy for Akhilesh Yadav and his supporters to win the election on their own," confirms a party insider. "The five-year term and its achievements are not enough for the party to bring home a majority."
The challenges are aplenty. Now how much help an independent Akhilesh will seek from Mulayam, remains to be seen. (The writer is a senior journalist)
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