Lucknow: The Samajwadi Party may have lost ground in the bitter battle that has played out in Uttar Pradesh in the past two months but, ironically, it is chief minister Akhilesh Yadav who has gained tremendously in terms of support and popularity.
It is the young chief minister’s growing support from the youth that has left the entire senior leaders almost stunned and have reportedly, forced the SP president Mulayam Singh Yadav to give up the idea of a change in leadership in the government.
The two-day drama at the Samajwadi Party office during which thousands of youths rooted for Akhilesh and hooted out the senior leaders showed, for the first time, that Akhilesh has managed to firmly establish himself as a youth icon in state politics.
The Samajwadi Party had never witnessed the kind of scenes that it saw on Monday when Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mr Shivpal Yadav addressed party leaders.
There was constant slogan shouting in favour of Akhilesh and Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav, more than once, was forced to ask the crowds to keep quiet but they did not heed his orders.
State president Shivpal Yadav was not only interrupted several times during his speech in which he criticised the chief minister but also faced uneasy questions from the audience. When he said he had widely toured the state, a youth leader Atul Pradhan shouted, “You went around in a helicopter” which forced Shivpal to ask,“Helicopter tumhare baap ka tha kya?” (Did the helicopter belong to your father).
The misbehaviour of the party leaders became pronounced after the Chief Minister gave an emotional speech. “It was a son who was addressing a father and not a Chief Minister. Akhilesh endeared himself to us when he turned emotional and even broke down during his speech. He asked his father to punish him if he had done any wrong but, later, Mr Mulayam and Mr Shivpal humiliated and insulted Akhilesh,” said a senior MLA present at the meeting.
