What’s driving Mulayam mad enough to turn against his son?

by Alka Pande Lucknow: It’s now or never for Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh. If he does not become prime minister in 2014, he might never become one in his life. The aging satrap’s desperation is showing. He is virtually playing the leader of opposition to his own government in Uttar Pradesh, turning into the harshest critic of his son Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. The SP chief has made scathing statements on the government at least 30 times in the last 10 months, the latest one being over the murder of a policeman by the accomplices of two alleged killers in Mainpuri district, part of the parliamentary constituency of Mulayam. Whenever he is in Lucknow, the former chief minister makes it a point to address party workers and sends out curt messages. Improve your behaviour and public conduct, the partymen are told, while government is asked to improve its functioning. Sample these remarks from Mulayam on different occasions: [caption id=“attachment_613273” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Mulayam Singh Yadav. AFP.[/caption] “The government is whiling away its time in making schemes but even in ten months no development can be seen on the ground. We have failed in sending the desired message among the masses”. “Some party workers are functioning like brokers. Barring a few ministers rest of the cabinet is ineffective”. “People voted SP to make me the chief minister but I decided to supervise the government from outside and not be part of it… There should not be any arrogance of power”. Now the big questions: what is making Mulayam angry? Why would he berate the government being run by his son and make it a butt of opposition jokes? The answers don’t have so much to do with efficient administration Uttar Pradesh as the SP chief grand ambition for the prime minister’s chair in New Delhi. For him, the road to Delhi passes through Lucknow. If things go wrong in the home state, his dream is as good as over. To strengthen his claim for the country’s top job, Mulayam needs at least 50 seats from UP - the state sends 80 members to Lok Sabha. If the government performs poorly in the state, achieving this target would be impossible. With around 30 seats, he won’t even be in a position to be kingmaker at the centre in 2014, let alone be the leader of the third front. Compounding his worries is the fact that Akhilesh’s government has not performed up to expectation in the last 11 months. There have been many cases of communal violence and lawlessness among the party cadres has been on the rise. There are signs that the SP chief, who is in his 70s, is not keeping well. People in the political circles have been talking about his mysterious ailment in hush hush voice for some time now. While there’s no official word on it yet, the leader certainly looks frail and unhealthy in his public appearances. If he does not make it to the top job in 2014, it will be another five-year wait for him. He will be close to 80 then, too old to be active in politics. That partly explains his frustration. Neither the poor performance of Akhilesh nor the conduct of his senior party members give him reason to feel comfortable. Mulayam has been scathing on the cliques formed by senior members of the party too. There are at least four parallel power centres in the state government - those of Mulayam’s uncle Ram Gopal Yadav and his brother Shivpal Yadav; cabinet minister Azam Khan and Raja Bhaiya; Mulayam’s son from his second wife – Prateek Yadav; and of course, Mulayam himself. Each power centre has its own vested interests and own loyal supporters in the party. Even the bureaucracy is divided in its loyalty among these groups. The divisions have weakened the chief minister who has admitted his helplessness in front of a few senior party leaders, confirms a party insider. He said the chief minister has made it clear that he would not like to meddle in the affairs of his uncles and others. On various occasions, the faction supporting Prateek Yadav has held demonstrations in front of the SP head office in Lucknow, demanding Parliament ticket for Prateek. The situation has created an environment of anarchy and the government therefore is failing to show any headway governance. Apart from fulfilling the promises of freebies, so far the government has not been able to project any major change. Meanwhile, Mulayam is well aware that his party would not be able to retain 23 seats it won in the last Parliament if the situation does not change. The anti-incumbency is already brewing and if the Akhilesh-led government does not take stock of the situation, the party will have to face the consequences and Mulayam will have to shelve his dreams forever.