With his father and Samajwadi Party (SP) founder Mulayam Singh Yadav no more, several challenges await Akhilesh Yadav. The most pressing electoral concern remains the consolidation of Muslim votes, which the party has traditionally banked on. At an organisational level lies the careful balancing act of appeasing both veteran and young voices in the party. On the personal front are issues involving coordination among the several Yadav family members who have their political ambitions. Mulayam built and maintained a pro-Muslim image throughout his life and had the singular pull to keep the community’s support with him. There are several other prominent Muslim leaders in the party, including MPs and MLAs, but their hold is limited to their constituencies and none of them wield the influence the SP founder did. The party not only lacks a strong face such as Mulayam but has also been facing accusations of maintaining a conspicuous silence on the community’s issues. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has hit out at the party on this and is trying to reach out to Muslims with the help of Imran Masood, who has influence in western UP, while the BJP is making a concerted effort to consolidate its presence among Pasmanda Muslims. Amid all this, in a major setback, Azam Khan, the SP’s tallest leader from the Muslim community, was disqualified from the Assembly following his conviction in a case of alleged hate speech against UP CM Yogi Adityanath. “The situation become alarming when BSP's Muslim candidate got over 2.66 lakh votes in the Azamgarh Lok Sabha bypoll in June this year and the SP lost the seat it held to the BJP. The result displayed that Muslims can prefer a leader from their community if they do not find a promising leader from SP,” said an SP leader. Akhilesh, who was re-elected as the party’s national president for the third time in September, has to contend with this question. Eyes are also on who he chooses to be a part of the national executive body. “When he constitutes the national executive of the party, he will have to make adjustments between castes, communities as well as senior leaders and young leaders. There are several veteran leaders who are upset with Akhilesh’s leadership but continued in the party only because they regarded Mulayam. Akhilesh will have to adjust to them to send a positive message to workers,” said a senior SP leader. A source in the party also emphasised the importance of the candidate who will be chosen to contest from Mainpuri, the Lok Sabha seat that has fallen vacant after Mulayam’s death. Mainpuri has been a stronghold of the SP due to the dominance of Yadav voters. Mulayam represented the constituency thrice. Devendra Yadav, the party’s district president, however, said no discussions had been held yet on the matter. Family feud In his political career of more than five decades, Mulayam introduced several relatives to politics. Mulayam’s younger brother Shivpal Singh Yadav leads a party called the Pragathisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia). Shivpal created the party in 2018 after parting ways with the SP amid differences with Akhilesh. Mulayam’s grand-nephew Tej Pratap Singh Yadav, who is also RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s son-in-law, is a former MP. He won the Mainpuri seat in a 2014 bypoll after Mulayam vacated the seat to retain the Azamgarh Lok Sabha constituency. Other family members have also been MLAs, MPs and heads of local bodies. But, since 2016, the feud between Shivpal and Akhilesh has played out in the public eye. A senior SP leader said, “Mulayam always tried to give a message that all was well and normal in the family. In his absence, maintaining that peace and silence would be a challenge for all the factions.” A display of a united front was seen during the SP founder’s last rites. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is also said to have reportedly told Shivpal and his cousin Ram Gopal Yadav, who is believed to be on Akhilesh’s side, to end their differences. “They all appeared together when Mulayam passed away. They attended the rituals together. Shivpal, too, was seen with Akhilesh. In the coming days, when it comes to adjustments in organisation and distribution of tickets for the elections, Akhilesh will face serious challenges as far as coordination and unity among the family members is concerned,” said an SP leader.
