The spectacular victory of Narendra Modi in the lok Sabha elections may trigger provincial tremors as there are indications of a complete overhaul in the ruling party as well as in the State Government in Uttar Pradesh.
After Bihar’s Chief Minister Nitish Kumar tendered his resignation, demands for the resignation of Akhilesh Yadav as the Chief Minister erupted from different quarters of the political spectrum.
BJP leader and newly-elected MP from Deoria Kalraj Mishra said that the drubbing of the Samajwadi Party showed that the Government had lost faith of people and the Chief Minister should resign.
The demand is likely to go shriller with every passing day. The Samajwadi Party leadership knows that it is a testing time for the party and the Government and needs to take a corrective step immediately.
Sources claim that the next week could see large-scale changes in the Government and the administration. Indications are that Akhilesh Yadav, who is also State president of the party, may be asked to retain one post. If he retains the State chief’s post, Mulayam Singh Yadav will be the right choice for the Chief Minister’s post.
This election is seen as a referendum for the Akhilesh Yadav Government. In his election speeches, the Chief Minister spoke about the development schemes the Government had initiated. He also spoke about the distribution of laptops, Kanya Vidyadhan and other schemes the Government had launched in the last two years. The way the SP fared in the lok Sabha elections has raised a question mark over the efficacy of those schemes.
"These schemes are good but we have failed to take the message down deep into the villages. People do not know about many schemes and this is our failure," Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had said in an interview.
SP’s electoral victory was limited to winning only five seats — that too was a family affair. The party got 22.2 per cent vote share.
Surprisingly, most of the legislators lost their own Assembly segments which they had won by a landslide margin in 2012 Assembly elections creating a panic in the party. "All UP ministers could be asked to resign besides organisational units could be dissolved and reconstituted," a senior leader said and also questioned the Government’s blatant Muslim appeasement policy that had antagonised Hindus.
The axe may also fall on chairmen of the state-run corporations and boards who enjoy minister’s status for their failure to ensure victory of candidates in their constituencies.