Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav’s death has raised a big question about the future of the party, writes Biswajeet Banerjee

A slogan used to rent the air in the mid-1980s in Uttar Pradesh - jiska sar kabhi nahi jhuke uska naam Mulayam hai (whose head never bowed, his name is Mulayam Singh). On Monday, Mulayam bowed his head before death. With his death, the loudest voice of socialism after Jai Prakash Narayan and Ram Manohar Lohia, has fallen silent. Not only this, but Mulayam’s death has also cast a shadow on the model of secular politics, which he had painstakingly crafted over the last three decades.

Mulayam’s death has raised a big question about the future of the Samajwadi Party. Mulayam Singh Yadav’s stature in Indian politics was unmatched. His acceptance was not only in Uttar Pradesh but across India as a big socialist leader. Despite having political rivals, Mulayam was known to have good relations both in the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress camps. This was proved when he became the chief minister for the first time in 1989 with the support of the BJP. At the same time, he went to support the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government of Manmohan Singh, thus maintaining a balancing act in this game of political upmanship.

He faced the toughest test of his political career in 1989 when he objected to kar sewa by kar sevaks in Ayodhya. He gave a free hand to the police which led to the opening of fire at kar sevaks. His statement that ‘parinda bhi par nahi maar sakta’ in Ayodhya made him a darling of Muslims. It helped him earn the title of Mulla Mulayam.

Mulayam Singh Yadav’s ‘secular’ politics went beyond the protection of minorities and a strong stand against communalism. He genuinely considered Muslims as stakeholders in his politics. The Samajwadi Party’s rise saw a significant increase in Muslim representation in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly. With Yadavs supporting him, he was able to stitch the MY (Muslim-Yadav) social alliance. Besides championing the cause of the Other Backward Classes and the underprivileged class, Mulayam Singh Yadav’s politics involved forging a social coalition between OBCs and Muslims at the grassroots level, fighting the inherent contradictions.

This secular political model has witnessed a decline under the leadership of Akhilesh Yadav as he preferred to maintain an arm’s length from any issue associated with Muslims, as he wanted to remove the tag that SP is only a party of Muslims and Yadavs. This was evident in the 2022 UP Assembly elections when he ensured that no Muslim leader shared the dais with him during the election campaign. The umbrella of OBCs and Muslim unity, which Mulayam had painstakingly stitched, was dismembered during Akhilesh’s time as the BJP was able to woo a large chunk of OBC votes in its favor.

This political acumen of Mulayam Singh Yadav has made Samajwadi Party an acceptable political force. Mulayam knocked on many doors before forming his own Samajwadi Party. He started his political journey with Socialist Party, then switched to Janata Party, Lok Dal, Janata Dal, and Samajwadi Janata Party. In 1992 he formed the Samajwadi Party and the next year he formed the government by joining hands with BSP and defeating the BJP, which was upbeat after the demolition of Babri Mosque in 1992. This combination of Dalits, backward, and Muslims blunted the Ram temple wave.

Another slogan that used to rent the air at that time - was ‘Mile Mulayam Kanshi Ram, hawa mein uda gayye Jai Shri Ram. But the alliance did not long last. After the infamous state guest house incident where SP workers misbehaved with Mayawati, the BSP withdrew support from the government. This event gave a new twist to UP’s politics as Mayawati became the chief minister of UP for the first time with the support of the BJP.

That was the time when Mulayam came out of the shadow of Chaudhary Charan Singh. Mulayam used this opportunity to strengthen his party base and took out ‘Samajwadi Kranti Rath’. After 2007, when Mayawati successfully stitched the Brahmin-Dalit alliance, Mulayam could read the disenchantment among the younger generation. He started promoting his son Akhilesh as the young face of the organisation. In the 2012 assembly election, SP fought in the name of Mulayam Singh Yadav but made Akhilesh the chief minister of UP.

The onus is now on Akhilesh to fill the void Mulayam’s death has created not only at the state level but also at the national level. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav faces the tough challenge of preserving and taking forward the legacy of his father Mulayam Singh Yadav. Political analysts and Samajwadi Party insiders feel that the demise of Mulayam Singh Yadav will have a direct political impact on the party, as Akhilesh Yadav will now have to work without his “shield and shadow”. Besides, the party is sure to miss Mulayam’s emotional bonding with every camp and also his expert guidance in crucial times.

The biggest virtue of Mulayam was that he was able to keep both the party and the family together. He had accommodated his family members in the political spectrum be it in Etawah, or in state politics, and even accommodated his cousin Ram Gopal Yadav in national politics. If Akhilesh manages to keep the family together like Mulayam, it will be his first step to victory. Akhilesh Yadav has followed his own line from the very beginning regarding the family. His style of functioning forced Shivpal Sing Yadav to walk out of Samajwadi Party and form his own party -- Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia). That happened because Shivpal Yadav is yet to accept Akhilesh Yadav as the successor of the legacy of Mulayam Singh Yadav. Except for Ram Gopal Yadav and ex-MP Dharmendra Yadav, all family members have lost their clout in the Samajwadi Party as Akhilesh Yadav has marginalized them.

The million-dollar question is: whether he will be able to establish himself in the place of Mulayam Singh Yadav at the national level. And if he fails, what will happen to the Samajwadi Party?

Akhilesh till now was identified as the son of Mulayam Singh Yadav. Now Akhilesh will have to make his identity without Mulayam. There is no doubt that Mulayam had his political baptism by fire, but Akhilesh inherited the political legacy from Mulayam, practically without breaking a sweat. Therefore, on several occasions, Akhilesh failed to fathom political waters and took wrong decisions. At one time, when Akhilesh entered into an alliance with Mayawati in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Mulayam opposed this decision. But it was too late and Samajwadi Party faced a humiliating defeat in the elections.

Another critical factor is that there is a dearth of grassroots workers with Akhilesh. The way Akhilesh has sidelined senior leaders, who were once advisors of Mulayam Singh Yadav, has raised eyebrows. Now, even the Samajwadi Party workers say that Akhilesh is surrounded by managers, not advisors. Perhaps this is the reason why Akhilesh has failed again and again and has lost the last four elections.

The biggest challenge before Akhilesh is to maintain the party’s hold in the rural belt. If BJP is called ‘shahar ki party’, Samajwadi Party is ‘gaon ki party’. The credit for this goes to Mulayam, who built the party brick-by-brick. With the domination of the urban middle class in the politics of the state and with the advent of technology and expansion of roads and transport, the gap between urban and rural society is shrinking. Akhilesh needs to tread cautiously by striking a balance between the urban and rural brands of politics.

Mainpuri election a challenge

After the death of Mulayam, the challenge before Akhilesh is to retain Mainpuri not only in bye-elections, slated in the next six months but also in the 2024 general elections. The question is who will be Mulayam’s political heir from Mainpuri. There is a saying in Mainpuri that “Mulayam is Mainpuri and Mainpuri is Mulayam”. This shows the relationship Mulayam Singh Yadav had with Mainpuri. He was born in Etawah, but his karmabhoomi was Mainpuri.

The influence of Mulayam can be gauged from the fact that since 1989 till date, no one could defeat him or his chosen candidate in the Lok Sabha elections. In 1996, Mulayam Singh Yadav also became the Defence Minister in the Central government by winning the parliamentary election from Mainpuri. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections too, Mulayam contested and won the Lok Sabha election from Mainpuri.

There are four political heirs of Mainpuri. One of them could be Akhilesh himself. The problem with Akhilesh Yadav is that he is an MLA from the Karhal seat and is also the leader of the opposition in the House. In such a situation, if he takes over Mulayam’s legacy in Mainpuri, then he will have to leave both of these posts. The other contender could be Mulayam’s nephew Dharmendra Yadav, who can contest the election from Mainpuri because in 2004 he was elected from this seat. Or it could be Mulayam’s grandson Tej Pratap Yadav who too was MP from Mainpuri in 2014 when Mulayam quit Mainpuri and retained the Azamgarh seat after he won elections from both constituencies.

In the absence of Mulayam Singh Yadav, the biggest challenge before Akhilesh Yadav will be to present himself as a big leader at the national level like Mulayam Singh Yadav. Will he succeed, only time will tell.

(The Writer is a Senior Journalist).