This refers to the editorial, “New SP under AkhileshIJ” (October 9). As the saying goes, a trouble shared is a trouble halved, but the internecine trouble in the Samajwadi Party, stemming from divergence of views between the old and the new guards, cost the party tremendously.
A division of a party accounts for division of its vote-bank as well, causing a sag and that is what happened to the Samajwadi Party in the 2017 State Assembly election, which was sagaciously exploited by the ruling BJP. However, a successful combination in the party leadership happens to be one premised on the experience and worldliness of the old guard and the dynamics and energising fervour of the new. There's a silver lining seen in the Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Yadav and his brother Shivpal Yadav extending their blessings and good wishes to Akhillesh Yadav on the
latter's re-election as the party chief.
The Samajwadi Party's alliance with the Congress too may result in some pragmatic dividends for both the partners ahead of the 2019 parliamentary election and the 2022 Uttar Pradesh poll. I concur with the view that Akhilesh Yadav may also emerge as the potential contender for prime ministership in 2024, a long-cherished wish of his father Mulayam Singh Yadav.