This refers to the editorial, “Samajwadi Party tussle” (September 15). The crisis within the Samajwadi Party has more to do with personality clashes and tussle for supremacy than with ideological and policy differences. While party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav has an unenviable task of bringing about a rapprochement between the warring factions, it defies understanding as to why he chose to strip his son Akhilesh Yadav of the post of State party chief at this juncture, provoking him to demonstrate that he is no pushover.
While sceptics hold that this stand-off is manufactured, to divert people’s attention from Akhilesh Yadav’s incompetence in governance and failure to deliver on the promises, the surfacing of the family discord, if not checked, can puncture the morale of the party cadres. It stands to reason that more than the BJP, the Bahujan Samaj Party stands to gain from the internecine feuds of the Samajwadi Party. For this reason, the disarray into which the party is thrown, due to divisions, is not entirely unwelcome.