Shuru hone ko hai naya safar, jawab dega Jaswant Nagar.
(A new journey is about to start, the answer will come from Jaswant Nagar).
The couplet on a hoarding with pictures of Mulayam Singh Yadav and his younger brother Shivpal Singh Yadav raise eyebrows. What kind of `new’ journey Shivpal Singh Yadav is hinting at and how come Jaswant Nagar will stand testimony to this new journey IJ Do these hoardings reflect Shivpal’s mindset IJ Is he going to float a new party after Assembly electionsIJ Is he in a rebellious moodIJ
Questions are many and only one man can give the right answer – Shivpal Singh Yadav himself.
“A big battle lies ahead … I mean after election. That will be the battle for survival,” Yadav told this reporter at Jaswant Nagar. “I stand by my supporters. These hoardings have been put up by my supporters. In democracy, you have to listen to people’s voice,” he said.
Another couplet talks about Shivpal’s sacrifice for the party:
Hur dum jale mashaal ki tarah;
Koi jee ke dikhaye Shivpal ki tarah.
The people in Jaswant Nagar are rooting for Shivpal Singh Yadav. But the party support is not visible to that extent. loyalists of Shivpal Yadav had come from far and across of Uttar Pradesh to ensure that he wins this election with a record margin.
“We are not getting support from Akhilesh’s Samajwadi Party but mantri ji (Shivpal) has his strong support base which would ensure his victory,” a SP loyalist said.
Jaswant Nagar, the Assembly segment of Etawah, is the test case how Samajwadi Party leaders are working at cross-purposes. People close to Prof Ram Gopal Yadav want Shivpal Singh Yadav to lose elections while Shivpal’s supporters have already started saying that the SP-Congress alliance is coming a distant third.
“Bhai sahib, mark my words – BSP will form the next government. There is a race between BJP and SP-Congress alliance as to who will come second. In this race, the BJP will pip the alliance,” a leader who was once SP spokesman but was sacked once Akhilesh took charge, said.
He had gone all the way from lucknow to Etawah to attend Mulayam Singh Yadav’s rally in Jaswant Nagar in support for Shivpal Singh Yadav.
“Why should I say Akhilesh Yadav zindabadIJ I was sacked from the party post only because I am a Shivpal loyalist. Yes, I am his man but I had never worked against party. If Akhilesh did not trust me why should I have faith on him,” he asked.
There were around 20 SP leaders, some of them from eastern Uttar Pradesh, who had come to support Shivpal. A leader from Deoria said that Akhilesh Yadav has neglected eastern UP. “He should not forget that it was eastern UP that infused life in Samajwadi Party last time round. Have people forgotten Ramkola kaand,” he said.
“We shepherded voters to polling booths. Now we will not do that. Do you think without support people will vote for the SP candidate. Kabhi nahi,” he said.
There is a feeling in Jaswant Nagar that Prof Ram Gopal Yadav has started a whisper campaign against Shivpal Yadav. Even Shivpal is saying the same to voters in guarded words. “There is an attempt from within family to defeat me. Meri izzat aapke haath mein hai,” he said.
The fight within the family has started casting dark shadows on Yadavland. Mulayam Singh and Shivpal have refused to go outside Jaswant Nagar for electioneering.
“It is unimaginable that Mulayam Singh will not canvass in Mainpuri, Etah, Kannauj and Badaun – the region dominated by Yadavs. Without him, how can SP win votes there,” asked Santosh Yadav, a SP supporter.
People talk in bated breath how Shivpal Yadav is damaging SP as he does not want the SP-Congress alliance to form the next government.
A rebel SP candidate Ashish Rajput, who is contesting from Etawah City Assembly segment on a lok Dal ticket, shared dais with Mulayam and Shivpal Singh in Jaswant Nagar. Sitting SP legislators Raghuraj Shakya and Shukhdevi Ram, after being denied tickets are actively campaigning for Shivpal.
“This is a dharamyudh. Watch out for March 11. Ab to naya safar shuru hone ko hai,” Shivpal Singh said as his supporters shouted ‘Shivpal Bhaiya zindabad’.