Is Modi phobia guiding Mulayam's praise for Advani?

It was in the Lok Sabha that LK Advani had a chat with Mulayam Singh Yadav. The House had been adjourned following a huge uproar on CBI raiding MK Stalin’s house in Chennai in less than 24 hours of DMK withdrawing support from the Manmohan Singh government. The BJP patriarch made two points to the Samajwadi Party chief – the CBI raids against DMK leaders is a message to him that should he withdraw support, the CBI would be let loose on him. While Mulayam kept this part of conversation to himself, he made second part public, quoting Advani on governance issues, particularly the deterioration of law and order in Uttar Pradesh under his own government. Mulayam’s reference to Advani is only the beginning of the various signals that the Samajwadi Party is sending out to the ruling UPA at the Centre since the Budget session of Parliament closed for a month-long recess. The party, in fact, is dropping too many signals in quick succession. The message is clear: it won’t be the crutch for the UPA government for long.[caption id=“attachment_674679” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav. PTI[/caption] Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhliesh Yadav’s statement that parliamentary elections in October would suit his party better than elections in April-May next year is perhaps the biggest indicator of how things may shape for the UPA after the Parliament opens for the second half of the budget session. With 22 MPs in Lok Sabha, the SP has waited for long on the margins and it is time for it to bask in new-found position of eminence in national politics. It will take its own time to play the spoiler for the UPA but it is also out to create some confusion within the ranks of the BJP and look for a realignment of political groups at the Centre in various possible combinations. That is how Mulayam’s younger brother and SP’s leader in Rajya Sabha, Ram Gopal Yadav, assertion that Advani is one of the most respected leaders in the country and that NDA’s rule was much better than the UPA’s gain significance. The SP leadership’s sudden interest in Advani’s virtues has become a topic of debate in Delhi’s power corridors. Mulayam expanded and consolidated his social base in Uttar Pradesh by providing an effective counter to the issue that Advani championed both as belief and political discourse through his Ayodhya Ram temple movement. The two have had an uneasy but dignified relationship. Though they have stood firm on either side of the political divide, the fact remains that it was the BJP-led NDA government that helped Mulayam Singh Yadav form his previous government in Uttar Pradesh. The Samajwadi Party could be looking for early parliamentary polls and as Akhilesh Yadav said his party would maximise its gains in the state. It could look to be the king, circumstances permitting and if its leader Mulayam Singh Yadav can’t be the king, the party would certainly like to play the king-maker. Mulayam’s praise for Advani is thus seen as part of his realpolitik. A mere reference of Advani’s name is enough to create ripples in the Congress, but more than that it also to create confusion in the BJP ranks. Some see it as a careful move aimed at keeping Narendra Modi at bay. There are some calculations that Modi’s credential as caste OBC combined with his charismatic appeal could work to the advantage of the BJP in UP. The BJP has brought back two prominent OBC faces, Uma Bharti and Kalyan Singh. With Rajnath Singh as BJP president and Modi as the prime ministerial candidate, the state—it sends 80 MPs to Parliament—is not a lost cause for the party. Even as Akhliesh Yadav asserted that Modi would be of no consequence to the social dynamics in Uttar Pradesh, there are strong demands in the BJP state unit that Modi be projected as the leader. There is an emerging curiosity around Modi and his persona has certainly become a talking point in the politically conscious state. Modi’s presence may help the BJP in the state but a reverse polarization may end up helping the Congress more than the Samajwadi Party. Like it happened in last parliamentary elections, Mulayam may remain their messiah in state elections but in a deeply polarised BJP versus Congress scenario, the Muslims may be tempted to vote for the Congress in Parliamentary elections. Elections in October, as Akhilesh said would be better for the SP’s prospects - with only one year in office, the honeymoon phase with the electorate still continues and the government has also started delivering on the electoral promises like free laptops to students and unemployment allowances.