Ever since Shivpal Singh Yadav has announced the opening of a ‘Samajwadi Secular Morcha’, it has sent the experts, as well as seasoned politicians into frenzy. As if it was not enough, knee jerk reactions by intellectuals that quickly followed the decision, apart from the recent meeting of controversial NDA minister Om Prakash Rajbhar with Shivpal Yadav, does compel one to think if this is not a job perfectly executed by the once influential kingmaker, Amar Singh.
Though both leaders have clarified on the meeting as a mere formality, there might be more to it than what meets our eyes. This is not the first time that Rajbhar and Shivpal have met for record. Last Tuesday, Amar Singh, in a press briefing, had reported that Shivpal would soon be meeting an influential NDA leader. Though Shivpal did not attend that meeting, his growing proximity with Rajbhar is hidden from none.
Om Prakash Rajbhar hasn’t denied any such link as well, saying that if Amar Singh wishes to fight in 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the party can give him the candidature of Azamgarh constituency. So maybe, the paranoia of the left leaning intellectuals on the possible links might not be too farfetched either.
For those unaware, Shivpal Yadav is the younger brother of ex Samajwadi party supremo, Defence Mulayam Singh Yadav. He was the last link between the old faction and the new faction led by Akhilesh Yadav, until he was royally sidelined in a dirty tussle for power in the beginning of 2017, something that cost Akhilesh both popularity as well as the power in the 2017 UP legislative assembly elections.
Having waited for too long, Shivpal has now decided to open a ‘Samajwadi Secular Morcha’ that would work with the blessings of the old guard. He even declared his intentions in a statement post Raksha Bandhan, ‘I’ve been waiting for more than 1.5 years. How much more shall I be ignored? There is a limit to tolerance, though even now I hope that everyone fights together.’
Needless to say, this has sent the liberals into frenzy, who now fear that this decision might give BJP a shot in the arm that they don’t wish to see, especially when the election seasons are drawing close. It is according to these very sources that Shivpal is meeting NDA leaders in order to ‘weaken Akhilesh faction’, facilitated by the ever faithful kingmaker Amar Singh.
Though it might be a too farfetched idea that this entire setup is the brainchild of only Amar Singh, one can’t ignore his contribution in an overall change in the current outlook of Shivpal Yadav.
Given the history of Amar Singh’s shrewd politicking, the idea that he elevated Shivpal Yadav as a proxy to create even more factionalism within the Samajwadi Party, is not entirely groundless. Interestingly, Amar Singh has, in the recent past, shown a closer proximity with the BJP and has even hinted towards joining the NDA fold. Even PM Modi took a friendly jibe at Amar Singh’s ‘connections’ and his political maneuvering.
Amar Singh knows that Shivpal would do anything to stay in power, even if it comes to earning the ire of his own nephew Akhilesh. Though it is only in future that we might know if this idea is a risk worth taking or not.
