As expected, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s swearing-in ceremony in Patna on Friday proved to be the largest gathering of leaders opposed to the Bharatiya Janata Party in recent times. However, there were two notable absentees: Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati.
While Mayawati is known to be a political loner, Yadav’s absence could well be due to the fact that he is unable to accept Nitish Kumar’s emergence as a possible leader of a grouping of non-BJP parties.
After his emphatic victory over the BJP in the Bihar assembly elections, Kumar is increasingly being seen as the potential leader of a coalition of Opposition parties to take on the saffron outfit.
Yadav does not want to concede the leadership of such a front to anybody else. At the age of 76, the Samajwadi Party president believes he has the necessary seniority and experience to be projected as a prime ministerial candidate.
Recent bonhomie
It was only in April that six Janata Parivar parties unanimously decided to merge into a single entity to be spearheaded by Yadav. It was tentatively called the Samajwadi Janata Dal. The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister was appointed as head of a five-member committee to finalise the name, symbol and flag of the proposed political outfit.
In deference to his seniority and as an acknowledgement of his leadership, the meetings of the Janata Parivar leaders were always held at Yadav’s residence. After one such meeting, Nitish Kumar announced that the Samajwadi Party chief had been authorised to work out the details of the merger.
“Mr Mulayam Singh has been authorised to work out the modalities through which our six parties can merge,” the Janata Dal (United) had declared. “When political parties merge, there are many formalities that have to be completed before the new party can be formed. In Bihar, we are already working together – now this will be expanded to the all-India level.”
Bitter vibes
However, this bonhomie came to an abrupt end just before the Bihar assembly election, when the Samajwadi Party in September walked out of the grand alliance comprising the JD(U), the Rashtriya Janata Dal, and the Congress.
Yadav said he was withdrawing because the Samajwadi Party had not been allotted a respectable number of seats. However, there was speculation that his decision was influenced by pressure from the ruling BJP at the Centre over pending cases against the Samajwadi Party president being pursued by the Central Bureau of Investigation. As a result, Yadav has taken a backseat in the formation of a possible national front, even as Nitish Kumar looks set to take the reins.
So it comes as no surprise that Yadav went to the extent of criticising Kumar. In a rare outburst at a meeting of party workers in September, the Samajwadi Party president said: “He [Kumar] is a traitor who ditched me. I proposed his name for the chief ministership and he sat in the lap of the Congress. He cheated me.”
Trouble at home
More galling for the Samajwadi Party chief is the fact that his cadres are demanding a Bihar-like grand alliance in Uttar Pradesh, where there are visible signs of public disenchantment with the Akhilesh Yadav government. Fearing a rout in the next assembly election in 2017, the Samajwadi Party wants its leadership to be take the initiative in this regard.
Amid these murmurs, Yadav’s presence at Kumar’s swearing-in on Friday would have signaled intent to forge a partnership in Uttar Pradesh.
Overall, the entire episode has demonstrated that while an alliance among opposition parties could still work at the state level, there are serious hurdles in stitching up a national alternative to the BJP. The rivalries between different political parties and the ego clashes among their leaders could well prove to be the undoing of any such proposed front.
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While Mayawati is known to be a political loner, Yadav’s absence could well be due to the fact that he is unable to accept Nitish Kumar’s emergence as a possible leader of a grouping of non-BJP parties.
After his emphatic victory over the BJP in the Bihar assembly elections, Kumar is increasingly being seen as the potential leader of a coalition of Opposition parties to take on the saffron outfit.
Yadav does not want to concede the leadership of such a front to anybody else. At the age of 76, the Samajwadi Party president believes he has the necessary seniority and experience to be projected as a prime ministerial candidate.
Recent bonhomie
It was only in April that six Janata Parivar parties unanimously decided to merge into a single entity to be spearheaded by Yadav. It was tentatively called the Samajwadi Janata Dal. The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister was appointed as head of a five-member committee to finalise the name, symbol and flag of the proposed political outfit.
In deference to his seniority and as an acknowledgement of his leadership, the meetings of the Janata Parivar leaders were always held at Yadav’s residence. After one such meeting, Nitish Kumar announced that the Samajwadi Party chief had been authorised to work out the details of the merger.
“Mr Mulayam Singh has been authorised to work out the modalities through which our six parties can merge,” the Janata Dal (United) had declared. “When political parties merge, there are many formalities that have to be completed before the new party can be formed. In Bihar, we are already working together – now this will be expanded to the all-India level.”
Bitter vibes
However, this bonhomie came to an abrupt end just before the Bihar assembly election, when the Samajwadi Party in September walked out of the grand alliance comprising the JD(U), the Rashtriya Janata Dal, and the Congress.
Yadav said he was withdrawing because the Samajwadi Party had not been allotted a respectable number of seats. However, there was speculation that his decision was influenced by pressure from the ruling BJP at the Centre over pending cases against the Samajwadi Party president being pursued by the Central Bureau of Investigation. As a result, Yadav has taken a backseat in the formation of a possible national front, even as Nitish Kumar looks set to take the reins.
So it comes as no surprise that Yadav went to the extent of criticising Kumar. In a rare outburst at a meeting of party workers in September, the Samajwadi Party president said: “He [Kumar] is a traitor who ditched me. I proposed his name for the chief ministership and he sat in the lap of the Congress. He cheated me.”
Trouble at home
More galling for the Samajwadi Party chief is the fact that his cadres are demanding a Bihar-like grand alliance in Uttar Pradesh, where there are visible signs of public disenchantment with the Akhilesh Yadav government. Fearing a rout in the next assembly election in 2017, the Samajwadi Party wants its leadership to be take the initiative in this regard.
Amid these murmurs, Yadav’s presence at Kumar’s swearing-in on Friday would have signaled intent to forge a partnership in Uttar Pradesh.
Overall, the entire episode has demonstrated that while an alliance among opposition parties could still work at the state level, there are serious hurdles in stitching up a national alternative to the BJP. The rivalries between different political parties and the ego clashes among their leaders could well prove to be the undoing of any such proposed front.
