Akhilesh Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav and Stalin, among others, are products of nepotism. Nepotistic heads of political parties are not actually preferred by senior and established members of these parties. The main reason is that these individuals have not experienced the tough reality of politics and tend to speak from privileged positions.
The fear came horrendously true recently when Akhilesh Yadav opened his mouth on Hindu sentiments of restoring their places of worship in their original form. Currently, Sambhal is witnessing an excavation to unearth the truth behind an imposed mosque.
Taking a jibe at it, Yadav said there should be an effort to excavate the Chief Minister’s residence in Lucknow. In a snarky remark, Yadav said, “Since the excavation work is underway, I believe that there is a Shivling at the Chief Minister’s residence too. We have faith that the Shivling is there. We should all prepare for its excavation. The media should go first; we will join after that.”
#WATCH | Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh | SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav says, “Since the excavation work is underway, I believe that there is a Shivling at the Chief Minister’s residence too…we have faith that the Shivling is there. We should all prepare for its excavation…The media should… pic.twitter.com/nY6iSR1yXe
— ANI (@ANI) December 29, 2024
He is wrong on two grounds here. Firstly, it is not a matter of belief that people say their temples are located underneath the mosques, but rather a well-established fact through archaeological evidence and historical accounts. These historical accounts are not hearsay, unlike Akhilesh’s story of a Shivling under the Chief Minister’s residence.
Secondly, what he did is a classic art of politicking by trivialising the topic and not letting it remain focused on the foundational issue. Excavations, finding the truth, and re-establishing the murtis in the original mandirs are not one of the normal day-to-day social and political issues for those who want to do it.
It is the utmost issue of civilisational importance, as is evident in the way Hindus have lined themselves up for the cause. Hundreds of people died when Yadav’s father, Mulayam Singh Yadav, asked his police to fire at Karsevaks. Then there are ground-level cadres of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and many other like-minded organisations who are engaged in such movements without having an iota of thought about their personal benefits.
There are instances of them being attacked, killed, or hanged by both Islamists as well as people stating their affiliations with the frontrunners of secular politics.
Ignoring these sacrifices and coming out with a conspiracy theory having no textual basis at all with a laughing face is the worst possible mockery. One simply does not do that unless there is some huge benefit attached to such actions. For Yadav, there is such a benefit, and that is mobilising his cadre base, which is losing morale.
The BJP has been able to reverse the momentum it lost during the Lok Sabha elections, and Yadav realises that in the Lok Sabha, it was actually the BJP’s loss and not his win. The morale on the ground is low, and key leaders in Milkipur—where the next assembly bypoll is due—are leaving the party.
When everything fails, a sense of urgency and anarchy has to be infused, and Yadav is doing just that by trivialising the issue. He wants to re-galvanise the Muslim vote bank in his favour since they are now not fully on board with him, as Yadav is not able to give them undue advantages in a secular state. How can he? He is out of power.
So, recourse to non-state anarchy is the way to go.
He is trying the same with farmers as well. When the Yogi government promised investors that it wishes to acquire a 1.5 lakh-acre land bank for the rapid industrialisation of Uttar Pradesh, Yadav assumed that it would hurt farmers. The understood rationale is that most lands are owned by farmers, so the government will buy from them.
This sounds fair, but what Yadav hid is the fact that the government gives compensation, which is way above the circle rate in that area. In cities like Delhi, Patna, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Noida, Gurugram, and others, we witness former farmers who have their multi-storey buildings in place—all thanks to the compensation money received by selling land.
Secondly, local industries benefit locals more than outsiders.
But Yadav won’t say that. This opportunity is yet another attempt to invoke small farmers’ protests organised by part-time farm activist Rakesh Tikait and people connected to him.
Yadav has failed in all of such attempts till now. But he won’t give up, because hammering this option is the only strategy his party can come up with.
