Akhilesh Yadav’s recent statement on his party not getting into any alliances is best twisted on its head by asking which party will be willing to ally with the Samajwadi Party (SP).
In 2019, in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls, an alliance between the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the SP was announced, with great fanfare. However, BSP chief Mayawati had left no opportunity to downplay Akhilesh Yadav’s political skills or lack of them and his naivety. With Mulayam Singh Yadav already pushed to the background, there was nothing much that was worthy of praise.
Announcing the breakup of their alliance, Mayawati had said that it should not be seen as such and that once things within the SP were alright, there could be possibility of a second patch-up.
This was a disastrous alliance, with party workers of both sides openly fighting and disagreeing on the ground. There were many instances when a leader of the other party was not allowed to get up a stage, as the other party had got to it first.
Yet when the alliance was formed, Akhilesh Yadav was rapturous about it, telling THE WEEK that it was an “alliance of the people, of the poor, of the rural and an alliance of hope. Ye dilon se banaya hua gathbandhan hai (It is an alliance made from the hearts). People have come out in large numbers to vote for it. It will be a historical result.”
Akhilesh had also said this particular coming together was different from any the party had had earlier.
“When the BJP had won, there was talk about its social engineering and excellent caste mathematics. Maybe, we learnt from the BJP to strike winning alliances. We also have our work to talk about—the expressway, the metro, laptop distribution, social schemes like the Samajwadi Pension Yojana, women’s helpline, the doubling of MBBS seats, infrastructure expansion, cancer institutes, sports stadia and engineering colleges. We were lacking in numbers; now the alliance will get us those numbers,” he had said.
In 2017, the SP formed an alliance with the Congress for the Assembly polls. The former was to contest 298 seats and the latter 105 seats. The SP lost 177 seats, but the greater loss was for the Congress, which came down from 24 to 7.
Political analyst C.P. Rai said, “The poor image of the SP rubbed off on the Congress else the party could have done very well.”
The SP has also had to contend with the anger of its Muslim voters who have seen the party relegate former minister Azam Khan to the sidelines. The party put up his face as a ‘star campaigner’ on poll posters despite him being in jail. There was no movement to free him and speak about how he was being treated in prison.
Juhie Singh, party spokesperson said, “We are a big party organisation and we have to give opportunity to the capable people within the party fold. Our experiences with alliances in the past have never been very pleasant. We have never spoken against any party. Our workers worked very hard. But smaller parties such as RLD have done well with us.”
She also points out that senior leaders like Ambika Chaudhary are returning to the party fold as are senior BSP leaders.
Party insiders, however, believe that Akhilesh Yadav is ill disposed to give a single seat. This was evident most recently in the case of Om Prakash Rajbhar. “Insecurity within the party is high and loyalties are not clear,” said a senior party leader.
Mata Prasad Pandey, former speaker of the UP Assembly, said “The prospects of all parties in the opposition are hurt as this government has not allowed us to hold meetings on the ground while it has never stopped doing so itself.”