Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav (MSY) will have to bear the brunt of “poor governance” of his son Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav in the erstwhile Yadav Zone. This is because, the Parliamentary constituency of Etawah, which Netaji represented not long ago, remains completely ignored.
During the last few years, the State Government has focused mainly on the Mainpuri lok Sabha which Mulayam represents. The development of Safai from where the Yadav clan hails is, however, the case in point.
The region is known to vote on the basis of caste and religion of the candidate which works as a deadly combination for both the winner and the loser. Muslims, Yadavs, Dalits are the game-changers not only in Etawah and Mainpuri, but their influence extends till Kannuaj and Firozabad. However, both Muslims and Yadavs are also wondering that why their Netaji is contesting from Azamgarh too.
The entire region is dominated by a sizeable population of Muslim-Yadav combination followed by Dalits and also the upper caste, which transforms this into a triangular contest between the BJP, SP and the BSP. Despite their sworn compulsion to vote against the BJP, Muslims are also disillusioned with Mulayam at several places.
“Ultimately the Yadavs would keep their loyalty intact though some of them may be swayed by the Modi wave. But we have no choice than to keep our fingers crossed. We had hoped the father-son (Mulayam-Akhilesh) duo will fail to pay attention to the needs of the entire State and particularly the region which has made them whatever they are today, but now we realise that we’ve been cheated,” said Mohd Shakeel Khan, owner of Bharat Motors on old GT Road in the Etawah City. When pressed for his view on which way the wind was blowing in their region, Mohd Azad of village Teral says, “idhar goondon ka majma hai, udhar shaitan ki basti hai”.