One would normally expect him to stick to a well-planned line while addressing election rallies. But call it strategy or spoof, Mulayam is really unpredictable.
Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav is a political warrior with years of experience behind him. One would normally expect him to stick to a well-planned line while addressing election rallies. But call it strategy or spoof, Mulayam is really unpredictable. In fact, even his closest aides do not know what he might say and whom he might attack.
That is precisely what happened on Sunday in Hardoi, about 100 km from Lucknow. Here, Mulayam reserved the worst treatment for the Congress, while BSP and BJP, his usual targets, escaped the barbs.
"Congress beimaan aur dhokhebaaz hai," he roared. (Congress is an unfaithful and treacherous party.) He continues with the assault: "Agar Congress ka bhanda-phod dein to yeh party kahin ki nahin rahegi." (If I expose the Congress, this party will have nowhere to go.)
Even SP leaders on the stage were taken aback by this sudden change of tack. But Mulayam knew what he was doing. He was using the Congress to mount his attack on arch-rival Mayawati. Then, he hit the nail on the head: "BSP par Congress ka haath na hota to Mayawati jail mein hoti." (If Congress wasn’t helping Mayawati, she would have been in jail.)
The SP chief addresses four to five election meetings a day, and nowhere does he forget to target the BSP's Dalit icon. The crowds break out into guffaws when he calls her Maharani.
"Mayawati is spending hundreds of crore to install her own statues... she is making parks and memorials. So much of stone work is going on in UP... she has herself become patthar-dil (stone-hearted), she does not care for the poor," Mulayam says.
Many in the crowd nod in approval, showing that Mulayam has hit the right chord. "If the (Central) government is made with our support, Mayawati will be dismissed within a week," he asserts, bringing up a round of cheers.
Mulayam communicates instead of just delivering a plain, rehearsed speech. The familiarity is instinctive and instant. He never prepares his speeches in advance. At times, he does ramble from the main topic. But he makes his point. You see the connect when he asks them to raise their hands to show their support or asks them: "Mulayam Singh ko kaise dekhna chahate ho? Mazboot ya majboor?" (Do you want to see Mulayam strong or helpless?) The crowd roars back, “Mazboot.”
Mulayam reminds the people about how welfare schemes started by his government have been scrapped by Mayawati. In Muslim-dominated areas, he refers to the Babri demolition, taking credit for preventing damage to the mosque in 1989 when he was CM.
The SP chief leads an austere life — carrying water and food from home. "Neta ji's favourite drinks are mattha and bel sharbat," says Ashish Yadav, a campaign manager.
The ‘son of the soil’ image is cultivated and more real than many of his critics might give him credit for.
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