Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, accompanied by his son Akhilesh Yadav, filed his nomination from Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat on Monday. Mulayam Singh Yadav, the 79-year-old founder of SP, said: “I am not in the race for the office of the Prime Minister.” When asked who is the PM candidate of the grand alliance, he said: “It will be decided after the polls”.
“I am sure that the Samajwadi Party will perform well in this elections and win a significant number of seats in Lok Sabha,” he said without making any mention of the alliance. Mulayam, when asked about the joint campaigning by Mayawati and other SP leaders in Mainpuri on April 19, refused to speak on it, saying a decision on it would be taken later on.
Mulayam Singh Yadav in an apparent display of his disapproval of the Samajwadi Party’s alliance with the BSP skipped the proposed election meeting to be held outside the office of the District Magistrate of Mainpuri after filing his nomination papers. The SP supporters, who had gathered, were agitated after Mulayam left for Etawah after filing his nomination without addressing them. Later, SP president Akhilesh Yadav and party general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav, along with other leaders, reached the spot and pacified the workers. Earlier, Mulayam reached on the Samajwadi rath from Etawah along with Akhilesh and other family members.
There was a clear breach of security of Mulayam Singh as unidentified drone was sighted near the gate of Mainpuri Collectorate. The police seized the drone. A defunct hand grenade was also recovered by the police near the Collectorate.
Relations between Mulayam Yadav and Akhilesh have been frosty ever since the son took control of the party in January 2017. Mulayam didn’t campaign for the SP in the 2017 Assembly polls and often admonished Akhilesh in public. In February last, Mulayam publicly rebuked Akhilesh for delay in announcing candidates for the Lok Sabha polls and also questioned his alliance with Mayawati’s BSP.
The Congress as well as the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party-Lohia (PSP-L) of Mulayam’s brother Shivpal Yadav are not fielding any candidate against the SP founder in Mainpuri. The BSP is fighting the elections together with SP, while the BJP is yet to decide on a candidate against Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Mulayam Yadav won Mainpuri with a huge margin in 1996, 2004, 2009, and 2014. The Samajwadi Party has won eight times, including bypolls, in a row since 1996. The BJP has never been able to win this seat. Mainpuri is going to polls in the third phase of elections.
In 2009, Mulayam polled 3,92,308 votes (56.44%). Even during the Modi wave in 2014, when the BJP won 71 seats, Mulayam Singh Yadav sailed through in Mainpuri. In fact, his vote share rose further. In 2014, Mulayam bagged 5,95,918 votes (60%) and his nearest rival, BJP’s Shatrughan Singh Chauhan got only 23.14% vote share.
Samajwadi Party leaders say that because of BSP being an ally, Mulayam Singh Yadav’s vote share will go up further. If we combine the vote share of SP-BSP of 2014, it comes to a whopping 74 per cent. The constituency is now waiting for April 19, when Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, and Rashtriya Lok Dal president Ajit Singh will hold a joint rally for Mulayam’s victory.
Apart from Mainpuri, Mulayam Singh Yadav had won Lok Sabha election from Sambhal, Kannauj, and Azamgarh. In Mainpuri, he won four times (1996, 2004, 2009, and 2014); Sambhal twice (1998 and 1999); Kannauj once (1999), and Azamgarh once (2014). Twice he contested and won on two seats: in 1999 on Sambhal and Kannauj and in 2014 Mainpuri and Azamgarh.