As the 2019 elections draw near, so do the political alliances. After it was confirmed that BJP has allied with Shiv Sena in Maharashtra and AIADMK in Tamil Nadu for the upcoming 2019 polls, the much touted alliance between SP and BSP is now being executed, with both parties releasing the list of candidates who are contesting on the seat formula as shared between the two parties.
However, one man is clearly not pleased with the recent turn of events. In an emotional outburst, founder of Samajwadi Party and ex CM of UP, Mulayam Singh Yadav lashed out at his son Akhilesh Yadav and his cronies for allying with the BSP supremo Mayawati. Given the acrimonious relationship the SP patriarch shares with the BSP chief, it came as no surprise when he lashed out at the opportunistic alliance.
To quote his address to the SP workers, “It was I who bagged 42 seats when I went on to become the defence minister of the country. But today, we are contesting only on half the seats. It is my son who has forged this alliance. Had it been me, things would have been different”.
“The female representation has also gone down drastically in the party, which is a matter of concern. And the names of the candidates should have been finalised by now, else BJP will take lead”, he criticised further.
Mulayam Singh Yadav further added, “We have a direct fight with the BJP. However, now our seats have been halved, which has also trimmed down our workers in turn. Somebody should tell me on what basis we are fighting only on half of the seats.”
This comes as no surprise, since only a week ago, Mulayam Singh Yadav had shocked one and all by praising PM Modi on the last day of the Parliament. He even wished that PM Modi returns to power, which was extremely surprising, given how anti Modi his son Akhilesh Yadav is.
However, this is not a mere coincidence either. Despite all the hype created by the left liberal media, Akhilesh Yadav is doing the same mistake that threw him out of power in 2017. He had rebelled against his father in order to ally with Congress on the advice of his uncle Ram Gopal Yadav and his league of yes men. Now, he has declared open his support for Mayawati, when the exit polls didn’t work in his favor, just in order to keep BJP out of power. It is another matter that his party didn’t even cross a total of 50 seats. Samjwadi party has been bitter rivals with Mayawati since the past 25 years.
Moreover, Akhilesh Yadav is also underestimating the aura of his uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav, who still commands worthy respect amongst the workers of the Samajwadi Party and is fiercely loyal to the Mulayam fiction. It was the disgruntled Shivpal, whose supporter base triggered the vote split that turned out to be disastrous for SP in 2017, and going by the number of seats the party is contesting, the situation doesn’t sound promising for Akhilesh. Only future would tell as to how his party actually fares in the 2019 elections.