The Samajwadi Party seems to be on the way to getting its very own Rahul Gandhi. His name is Akhilesh Yadav. Ever since the abysmal performance of his party in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the once-dynamic chief minister of Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav has disappeared into oblivion.
On Saturday, Akhilesh Yadav commented on the state of the Uttar Pradesh police under the Yogi Adityanath government following the Jhansi encounter, claiming the situation was such that “anyone could die anywhere in UP”. Such has been the recent mildness of his existence that this largely went unnoticed and failed to grab headlines that a sharp criticism from a former CM ideally would.
The problems with Akhilesh Yadav, however, go beyond his silence (barring a few instances when he has sporadically questioned the Adityanath government) and current cluelessness. Once hailed as the gen-next young turk of Uttar Pradesh, his political weight, astuteness and electoral performance have steadily declined in the last seven years. Among opposition leaders, the two who stand out for their complete inability to show any sense of direction or establish even a semblance of presence in the Narendra Modi era, despite being relatively ‘young’, are – Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav. If he continues at this rate, Yadav will soon start resembling the former, who is now just synonym for failure in Indian politics.
Akhilesh Yadav started off with much promise. At 38, he became the chief minister of India’s most politically crucial state – Uttar Pradesh – the youngest ever to hold that post. The breathless media coverage of his 2012 campaign showed the ‘new bicycle chief’ campaigning with a tablet, being called a ‘moderniser’ and being credited for an image makeover of the Luddite party.
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A selling point
Look at all other opposition leaders today, and a pattern becomes clear. Most of them have a unique selling point, with which they hope to stay afloat.
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee may be deflated after BJP’s excellent show in her home-turf in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, but no one can take away from the fact that she is one-of-a-kind in politics and will always be remembered for her maverick, street-style politics that took down a 34-year Left front government.
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal may have mellowed down from his days as a Modi-basher, but he did manage to make Modi seem insignificant in the 2015 Delhi assembly polls. He is making the BJP worry about the elections due next year and has cleverly moulded himself into a new political leader who understands the importance of promoting positive politics over merely cursing Modi.
Mayawati, meanwhile, may have remained off the radar, but will go down in history for her contribution to Dalit politics and social awakening, as well as a term as chief minister, remembered for a controlled law and order situation in a very difficult state.
Other opposition leaders like Andhra Pradesh’s Jagan Mohan Reddy have also managed reasonably well for themselves in this all-powerful Modi era, making Akhilesh Yadav stick out like a sore thumb. Besides, of course, his good friend (or once-good friend) Rahul Gandhi.
What does Akhilesh have to his credit? He is a leader who built no legacy for himself, left no stamp on the style of governance. To make it worse, he seems to be showing no signs of coming out of this post-defeat shell.
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The decline
Given Uttar Pradesh’s murky political past and the whole concept of ‘goondaraj’, Akhilesh was like a breath of fresh air – but more importantly, he was very unlike his father and former CM Mulayam Singh Yadav and his ever-dominating army of uncles.
What marked Akhilesh Yadav’s five-year term was not a burst of youthful energy in governance, but a massively deteriorating law and order situation, with an overbearing father and his brothers constantly undermining his decisions.
After a poor governance record, the 2017 assembly elections in the state were dominated by a very public and ugly spat between father and son in the Samajwadi Party. Akhilesh Yadav emerged as a politician in his own right, forcing his father to fall in line. That glory, however, was short-lived. A much-hyped, “UP ke ladke” (the boys of UP) alliance between the SP and the Congress materialised, with Akhilesh and Rahul in the front. The results – disastrous, a drubbing for the alliance and a sweep for the BJP.
From a ruling party, the SP it was reduced to a near-nothing opposition, with a mere 54 of the 403 seats.
The bypolls in the state in 2018 gave the opposition, including Akhilesh Yadav, a reason to smile, but that seemed more like a fluke.
The real disaster came ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, where an obviously rattled Akhilesh and Bahujan Samaj Party head Mayawati decided to bury decades-old bitterness and use the bua-bhateeja (aunt and nephew) cocktail to defang the BJP. This time, the other ‘UP ka ladka’ Rahul Gandhi was kept out, but the results were still as dismal.
Akhilesh Yadav’s party managed a mere five seats. By then, ample questions were being raised about this once-promising political star’s political sense and electoral decisions.
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What remains
Akhilesh Yadav has not presented any fresh vision for the Indian voter, any course-correction exercise or promise of reinvention, despite being merely 46 – ‘young’ by most standards in Indian politics.
Akhilesh Yadav seems to carry forward the misogyny and patriarchy his party has been known for. Consider the July instance when senior SP leader and serial offender Azam Khan’s sexist statement in Lok Sabha drew smiles and even a defence from Akhilesh.
The difference between Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav is that the latter has always appeared to be far more grounded, less flighty and not a serial bumbler. He has also been more affable and despite the whole ‘dynasty’ tag, far from arrogant. There is also little doubt he is reasonably hard-working and does not set off on foreign vacations at inopportune times. However, if he does continue down this path of directionless and poor political choices, Akhilesh Yadav could soon find himself on the same footing as the other ‘UP ka ladka’.