Akhilesh Yadav loses voice in Samajwadi Party candidate selection

On Dec 21, 2016

Party chief Shivpal Yadav has picked over 170 candidates without consulting Akhilesh Yadav

The induction of Amar Singh into the SP parliamentary board has further weakened the hold of Akhilesh Yadav on the ruling party.

The isolation of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav within the Samajwadi Party (SP) continues with the party high command sidelining him from the candidate selection process for the upcoming assembly election.

Not only does it worsen the political divide within the party, the latest development also confirms that the rift is unlikely to heal soon—strengthening the hands of its two principal political rivals, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

SP state unit president and Akhilesh Yadav’s uncle Shivpal Yadav has already given tickets to more than 170 candidates out of a total of 403 without consulting the chief minister. The induction of Amar Singh as a member of the SP parliamentary board, the apex body deciding on the allocation of tickets, has further weakened the hold of the chief minister on the party.

The parliamentary board consists of eight members: Mulayam Singh Yadav, Shivpal Yadav, Amar Singh, Ram Gopal Yadav, Azam Khan, Kiranmay Nanda, Joe Antony, Ravi Prakash Verma. Akhilesh is an ex-officio member.

Senior leaders concede that the rift in the party is worsening.

“There is no coordination in the party and factionalism is affecting the morale of the cadre. The biggest problem is that while 174 people have been asked to contest for SP, they are also not sure if they will remain contestants. There is a fear among candidates that some of them will be replaced before the election,” said a senior SP leader, who did not wish to be named.

The fears are understandable given that on 18 December, the party replaced R.P. Niranjan with Lakhan Kushwaha from Madhavgarh constituency, while Mukesh Choudhary will take the place of Abdullah Rana as the candidate from Charthawal constituency.

Earlier, Shivpal Yadav had replaced seven candidates on 13 December, while 14 more had been replaced in October.

The intra-party feud is now threatening to impact SP’s campaign too. Though Akhilesh launched his Samajwadi Vikas Yatra in Lucknow on 3 November, Mulayam is yet to finalize his campaign strategy. And this while the Congress, BSP and BJP have already launched their campaigns.

“The only time the chief minister was involved in the campaign was when he started the Vikas Yatra in November. Since then, there has been no activity from the chief minister or Mulayam,” the leader said.

“The division in the parliamentary board is clear and every member will try and push for their own candidates. Even though Akhilesh Yadav has been kept away from deciding candidates till now, he will definitely fight for his candidates, especially because this election will be a test of his governance over the past five years. The chief minister’s only hope is his father (Mulayam) as he has the last word in such decisions,” said Ramesh Dixit, a Lucknow-based political analyst.