Can Samajwadi Parivar Still Be A Winning Team—Together?

But the bitter family feud will likely take a toll on the Samajwadi Party’s fortunes in the 2017 Assembly election.

- Ashish Misra and Ajit Kumar Jha

Wrestling in the akhara style has had a long tradition in Uttar Pradesh, dating back to Mughal times. And Yadavs in particular have been ace wrestlers. Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav was a district level wrestler of some repute in his youth. It was at the dangals (wrestling competitions) of his native Saifai village, in Etawah, that he learnt the daopench (hold and grapple) of the sport, which he has since successfully employed in politics to win Uttar Pradesh four times. And each time his loyal brother Shivpal has been by his side, learning tactics from elder brother Mulayam. Both have together championed the old culture of patronage politics, using money and muscle to power their way through politics.

Son and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh is neither—he is not a professional wrestler like his father, nor the seasoned politician of the old school like uncle Shivpal. In fact, he has a strong distaste for the muscle power and criminal connections that have characterised UP politics in their reign. He prefers to fight elections through social media, digital technology and trained communication and campaign specialists to manage his election campaigns.

Being Mulayam’s son, however, Akhilesh has imbibed one technique of wrestling —the Nelson hold, in which a wrestler slips his arms under the opponent’s armpits, locking his hands behind his neck, forcing the opponent’s head into his chest. He is using it to good effect to turn the tide of SP politics today. In the first two years of his rule, it was alleged that UP had five-and-a-half chief ministers, alluding to his father and various uncles and his own compromised status in that mix. Today, Akhilesh seems to have the upper hand.