Still hopeful of being PM, Mulayam distances himself from Akhilesh's failures

Lucknow: When Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav publicly chided his chief minister son Akhilesh Yadav at a function in Lucknow on Tuesday (March 4), he was simply repeating in more or less the same words the observations he has been making for more than one year. [caption id=“attachment_1418927” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Akhilesh Yadav with Mulayam Singh Yadav. Agencies.[/caption] Mulayam’s call, “Aye Mukhya Mantri sun lo!” (O Chief Minister, listen!) was followed by a detailed observation by the senior Yadav of how sycophants were running the government, officers were delaying clearances, ministers and bureaucrats surrounded Akhilesh and the government’s image had taken a severe beating. Then he had turned towards senior minister Mohd Azam Khan and asked him: “Azam Khan Saheb, ab aap bhi sakriya ho jayiye” (Now you also become active.) The occasion was the symbolic foundation-laying of several power projects worth Rs 3926 crore at different places in the state, held at the Chief Minister’s official residence. Akhilesh Yadav’s response to his father’s advice was a mere smile, while Azam replied that he had devoted his entire life to him (Mulayam) and will be with him for the rest of his life. Mulayam gave a ten-day ultimatum to ministers and officers to “mend their ways” and asked the state government not to sit on files related to roads, electricity and water projects. A few months after the Samajwadi Party government came to power in March 2012, reports had started coming in about the free run of SP leaders, legislators and other anti-social elements, and the law and order situation had started taking a hit. At that time, there was no credible opposition in the state, since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congresss did not have the strength or the numbers to act as opposition of any substance. And the antagonism between the SP and the BSP is so deep, bordering on personal, that criticism of each other’s government could be expected. In such a situation, Mulayam himself chose to play opposition so that the young politician does not lose his moorings. Regardless of the tone and tenor of Mulayam’s observations, this is not for the first time that he has used a public platform to express dissatisfaction at the function of the government headed by his son. Mulayam had started commenting on his son’s government as early as December 2012. Mulayam’s latest comments have given readymade political fodder to the Congress and the BJP in election season. State BJP spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak said that despite Mulayam’s comments, the law and order situation was turning worse every passing day. Referring to the police attack on doctors in Kanpur, Pathak said, “The courts are the only hope of justice in the SP regime.” He added that the BJP had been saying for long that the SP government was running on the strength of “sycophants.” Congress spokesman Ashok Singh said “the SP government has left governance and the common man at the mercy of anti-social elements. The chief minister is responsible for the situation to have taken this pathetic turn.” He also condemned the Kanpur incident saying even the police was not under the control of the government. “The lacklustre performance of the Akhilesh government, especially on the law and order front, coupled with rising cases of police high-handedness and officials’ apathy to public problems, will hurt the party’s performance in the coming elections,” said a Bahujan Samaj Party leader. Mulayam has been repeatedly calling upon SP workers to give such a big victory to the party in the general election that Mulayam becomes prime minister. “By voicing his views against the SP government, Mulayam wants to give a message that he is as much disappointed with the government as the common people. Thus he wants to insulate himself from the public anger and still appeal for their support,” said Dhirendra Singh, a political science scholar in Lucknow University. The riots in Muzaffarnagar and its aftermath, the earlier riots in several places, the spate of rapes, murders and police inaction at several places have severely dented the SP’s image, and the party was losing popularity among the people, including among Muslims. It is now considered very difficult for the SP to take the tally of its Lok Sabha seats to beyond its present number. In case the SP fares poorly in the elections, Mulayam’s hopes to become Prime Minister will be dashed. “That is why Mulayam’s comments against the Akhilesh government are becoming so strident,” says Dhirendra. The comments by Mulayam on Akhilesh government’s function began as early as December 2012. December 2012: Mulayam wrote letters to ministers asking them to work diligently for implementing government schemes and also asked them to hold review meetings regularly and not rely on figures provided by bureaucrats. Later addressing party workers, he expressed disappointment over the behaviour of certain ministers and legislators in public that earned the people’s anger. He also expressed his concern with the rising disenchantment against the SP among common people. January 9, 2013: Mulayam advised Akhilesh to go in for a major revamp, including removal of certain ministers termed as being ‘non-performing’ and inducting new faces in their place. In meetings to address party workers, he also expressed concern over the law and order situation and also over the slow execution of political decisions by the bureaucracy. January 14, 2013: Speaking in his hometown Etawah, Mulayam said he was receiving lot of complaints about the state government’s functioning. He then advised party leaders not to involve in activities like mounting pressure on the government for transfers and postings of officials. January 17, 2013: At the SP working committee meeting in Lucknow, Mulayam chastised ministers and legislators for ignoring party workers and asked Akhilesh to make bureaucrats accountable. Mulayam not only showed his annoyance over the working of ministers, legislators and MPs, but remarked angrily that the government had failed to live up to the expectations of the people. He also spoke about the functioning of the CM’s secretariat in Lucknow, popularly known as the ‘Fifth Floor,’ saying a lot was desired in improving its functioning. March 23, 2013: Speaking at a function to remember Ram Manohar Lohia in Lucknow, Mulayam advised Akhilesh Yadav to review the performance of his government and ministers, take corrective action and improve his image otherwise he may not come back to power again. This warning came, he said, because senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L.K. Advani had told him that Uttar Pradesh was in a bad shape. “A senior leader like Advani never lies, he always speaks the truth,” he told Akhilesh. June 2013: Mulayam asked party workers not to punish him for the mistakes of his son, in a clear expression of his desire to become Prime Minister, and trying to distance himself from the anti-incumbency impact.