Reporters’ Diary: The whodunnit

The Samajwadi Party has been kicking up dust over its shocking defeat in the recently-concluded Lok Sabha elections and party president Mulayam Singh Yadav has been holding a series of meetings to discuss the factors that led to the party’s rout. At a meeting of SP legislators, all those present blamed the officials and the ministers for the defeat. At a meeting of ministers, everyone blamed the legislators and at yet another meeting of district presidents, the office-bearers blamed the ministers and legislators.

At the end of the series of meetings, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav was left thoroughly confused — more so, because son Akhilesh Yadav remained silent all through the meetings and did not utter a single word.

A senior SP minister was overheard saying, “When the chief minister refuses to own moral responsibility, what authority does the party leadership have to blame us for the debacle? Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav has been criticising his son’s government all along and the results are now out for all to see. If CM Akhilesh is nonchalant about the party’s defeat, so are we.”