The flip-flop by Samajwadi Party patron Mulayam Singh Yadav has left the party’s rank and file red faced as his statement could benefit the Bharatiya Janata Party and embarrass son and present SP chief Akhilesh Yadav.
On Thursday, Mulayam Singh Yadav had publicly rebuked his son for the party’s alliance with Bahujan Samaj Party and earlier in the Lok Sabha, he had wished Narendra Modi to become Prime Minister for a second term.
SP leaders dismissed the argument that Mulayam was making such utterances as his memory was fading due to age. They said the Yadav chieftain was restless with his marginalisation not only within the party he founded but also in politics — both at the state and national levels.
“Netaji is avenging his marginalisation in a party that he raised from scratch 27 years back. Netaji’s statements have caused enough consternation within the party, leaving the office-bearers in a state of discomfort,” the SP leader commented.
On the last day of the 16th Lok Sabha on February 13, the SP patriarch not only blessed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a second term in office but also admitted in the House that the entire opposition put together was not in a position to cobble up a majority.
On Thursday, the veteran politician told SP workers at the party headquarters on Vikramaditya Marg in Lucknow that “people inside are out to finish the party”.
Continuing his tirade against his son, Mulayam Singh Yadav said that the party had already lost the battle at the hustings as the SP had ceded 38 seats to Mayawati’s BSP, three to Rashtriya Lok Dal and two to Congress.
Close aides of Mulayam Senior said that “Netaji has not forgotten the humiliation heaped on him in the winter of 2016, when his son and then Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav literally showed him the door by dethroning him as SP chief”.
“He has turned old but he still has the same political acumen that he is famous for. Netaji was also upset at being completely ignored during the pre-alliance talks with the BSP as a result of which he had minimal say in seat allocation discussions between the two parties,” said the Mulayam loyalist.
A former minister said that Yadav Senior’s public outbursts were also because he wanted to have a say in, at least, the ticket distribution process of Samajwadi Party.