Akhilesh has won the 'cycle' from father Mulayam, but he has miles to pedal
The Election Commission has settled the seemingly endless battle for supremacy in the SP by recognising Akhiklesh Yadav's faction as the real Samajwadi Party and allotting the cycle symbol to him. The chief minister may have decisively won the battle within his party but he still needs to win next month's Assembly elections.
The EC verdict must no doubt have come as a big shot in the arm for the young CM; there is undeniably a certain political momentum to him now. Akhilesh must quickly seize the moment and should walk the extra mile to placate his father. He needs to soothe his father's bruised ego and alleviate his sense of hurt. Failure to do so will leave open the possibility of a hurt.
Mulayam Singh Yadav put up candidates against his party there by dividing the Yadav and the Muslim vote. The chief minister must also quickly sew up the alliance with the Congress and the RLD.
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| Akhilesh must quickly seize the moment and should walk the extra mile to placate his father. [Photo: DailyO] |
Akhilesh realises he faces a formidable opponent in both the BJP and the BSP. The BJP won close to 42 per cent of the popular vote in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and though much of it was due to the fact that the electorate was voting for Narendra Modi, the party still retains a large chunk of the votes it got last time.
He also needs to contend with the BSP. Mayawati has made a strong pitch for the Muslim vote and has fielded over 100 candidates belonging to the community. Moreover, Akhilesh needs to put in place the UP mahagatbandhan without further loss of time, in order the prevent the 18 per cent Muslim vote bank from gravitating towards the BSP, specially in western UP.
The EC's verdict has certainly given him some headwind, now the chief minister needs to capitalise on it by hitting the campaign trail right away. The SP is the only party which has not been able to begin campaigning. Its image has taken a beating as a result of the infighting of recent months and Akhilesh certainly has his task cut out in winning back the confidence of the electorate.
One significant gain for Akhilesh Yadav from the infighting in the party is that he will have finally rid himself of the image of being a puppet of his father and uncles.
The jury is, however, out on whether this will be enough for him to win the upcoming Uttar Pardesh elections.