SP leader rubs people wrong way, harms party
The exit of high-profile Anuradha Chaudhary from the Samajwadi Party may not trigger an earth-shattering collapse of the party (which in any case has been nearly wiped out in the lok Sabha election), but the departure has most certainly exposed the fissures that exist within the SP over the manner in which senior leader Mohammed Azam Khan has been allowed to manage the party's destiny. Ms Chaudhary, who had been a prize catch for the SP after she quit Mr Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya lok Dal, has squarely blamed Mr Khan for the election debacle, saying that his conduct in connection with the Muzaffarnagar violence had led to the sorry situation the party finds itself in. It may be argued that Ms Chaudhary became critical because she was one among the many leaders who lost the ministerial status after Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav stripped them of the Minister of State rank following the poll rout. Nevertheless, she has hit the nail on the head.
The influential Mr Khan, who loves to parade himself as some kind of a benign Muslim leader and also simultaneously considers himself secular, had, from available accounts, behaved in the most partisan manner in the Muzaffarnagar incident, reportedly pressuring the police to go slow on accused who belonged to the minority community. It was his partisanship which contributed to the worsening of the situation. His mishandling of the crisis continued even after the riots thankfully abated, as the victims living in refugee camps struggled to get hold of basic necessities which he and the Government claimed were available in ample measure. The insensitivity of the Samajwadi Party regime in lucknow, of which Mr Khan is an important member, was on display all along, leading to people cutting across caste and creed lines condemning the Government's conduct. Even traditional supporters of the SP, including those among the Muslim clerics, had lashed out at the regime.
All through, as the crisis brewed, Mr Khan continued to maintain an adamant and arrogant posture, and ensured that his writ continued to run large in the party. The Chief Minister has been helpless in containing the negativity that Mr Khan's behaviour has generated in the party and among its supporters outside. While Ms Chaudhary has spoken out openly, there are many others in the SP who have remained silent, although they share her anger and anguish. The silence is largely because Mr Khan continues to enjoy Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav's patronage — one reason why even the Chief Minister has not been able to contain him and has constantly pandered to his whims at the cost of the party's interests. But, while SP leaders have not developed the spine to speak out, the voters have. The rejection of the Samajwadi Party is also a negation of the hate-politics that the likes of Mr Khan have been practising. The earlier the SP realises this the better it will be for the party.