Mulayam Singh Yadav's citadel crumbling swiftly

Home > India > Article

If king makers like Mulayam Singh Yadav can bite the dust of defeat, days are not far when people of Maharashtra will realise that whatever Raj Thackeray is doing is unwarranted and only helps in disturbing national harmony.

CJ: Rajiv Azad

Wed, Nov 11, 2009 16:05:00 IST

Views:
0
Comments:
0

Rate:

5.0 / 5 votes

THE BLUES concerning defeat in the 15^th parliamentary election have still not faded and now there is another jolt to Mulayam Singh Yadav, in his political bastion UP, his party's candidate had been routed in the recently concluded by-elections for 11 assembly and 1 parliamentary seat.

Since early 90s, Mulayam Singh has been a political a force to reckon with across the country, often hailed as the king maker in polity corridors; he has been instrumental in forming and saving government at the centre. However, considering outcome of the 15^th parliamentary election and just held by-elections, it is widely speculated in the political circles that the strong citadel of Mulayam Singh Yadav has begun to crumble rapidly.

Out of 11 assembly seats that went to poll in by-election, his party couldn’t win even a single seat, the misery didn’t end here, Firozabad a parliamentary constituency vacated by his son Akhilesh Kumar also slipped from his party. Former Samajwadi Party cadre Raj Babbar, who won two parliamentary elections from historically important city Agra, defeated Mulayam Singh Yadav’s daughter in law Dimple Yadav by a margin of over 80, 000 votes in the Samajwadi Party’s fort itselves.

What went wrong? Is Mulayam Singh Yadav fading, like Lalu Prasad Yadav and Ram Vilas Paswan? Well there are plenty of reasons, SP supreme and his close aide Amar Singh will not accept these in public, but they are fully aware of the reasons. Their traditional vote bank Muslims are rapidly switching sides, they are showing inclination for Congress, as a man who was at the helm of affairs when Babri Mosque was demolished by fanatic Hindus in the year 1991, Kalyan Singh Verma has joined hands with Mulayam Singh Yadav. His son Rajveer Singh has been serving SP as general secretary. Another factor is rebel candidate contesting the elections against the designated party candidates, cutting party votes.

His surprising defeat in his bastion can also be attributed to his style of politics, like many politicians he also believes in playing with the emotions of the people, raising issues related to casteism and religion, ignoring key issues of unemployment, crime and development. If king makers like Mulayam Singh Yadav can bite the dust of defeat, days are not far when people of Maharashtra will realize that whatever Raj Thakrey is doing is unwarranted and only helps in disturbing national harmony.