Opinion It’s Party Time

Following its flattening under the Modi-BJP juggernaut in UP, were you wondering, but too frightened to ask — where’s the Samajwadi Party tonight? Well, the party is party-hopping. Just before UP’s poll dance, the SP began a desi family party — the kind which starts with a group hug, but ends in angry tears. Rumblings began as party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav’s hand-picked chief minister, beta Akhilesh, started shunting out the bad boys popularly associated with the SP. But while this added to Akhilesh’s halo in Hazratganj, not everyone applauded his party trick. Akhilesh’s uncle, Shivpal, complained bitterly to bhaisahab Mulayam, whose Lucknavi kebab-like heart hardened towards his son.

Tensions growing, the Samajwadi Party grew shriller. Akhilesh’s sister-in-law Aparna made a song and dance, suggesting hubby Prateek should’ve joined the party and if this party didn’t pick up, she might hop to another one soon. Aparna’s mother-in-law added to the potluck, mentioning caustically that Akhilesh was hogging the dance floor, making his father feel like a wallflower at his own party. Thus, when the SP arrived in an angry tumble at the Election Commission, stating the party was no longer fun and would the EC please decide on who got its symbol, the cycle, as a take-home gift, few were surprised, naughty observers suggesting the EC create a new symbol — a daredevils’ motorcycle — with all the SP’s party animals tremulously astride.

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However, the party has had a better idea — to split into many parties. Thus, Shivpal announced the new Samajwadi Secular Morcha, headed by Mulayam. There could, realistically, be many Samajwadi-theme parties ahead. Akhilesh, perhaps combining with arch-rival Mayawati, could host the surprise gala of the season. Aparna, recently hosting Yogi Adityanath at her cow stable, might want one of her own too. The SP’s patronage networks could desire rumbunctious costume parties while, perhaps inspired by Jay Gatsby not really enjoying his own dos, it’s possible Mulayam might not mind an eventual tea party himself.