Weak Akhilesh a boon in UP, believes BJP

With the Samajwadi Party’s internal strife getting uglier by the day, the BJP is hopeful that the public spat will dent Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav’s pro-development image and intensify the anti-incumbency rhetoric against his government. 

Central BJP leaders noted that Akhilesh stands discredited by his father Mulayam Singh Yadav and uncle Shivpal Yadav, making the job of the Opposition parties easier.

The party will now recalibrate its campaign strategy to extract political mileage out of the SP crisis during its parivartan yatras, starting in the first week of November.

Mulayam publicly rebuked the chief minister for his poor  performance, and his uncle Shivpal accused him of  nurturing plans to float his own party. Akhilesh broke down while addressing a meeting of party workers at Lucknow on Monday, and urged his father to appoint a chief minister whom he considers “honest”. 

“The internal bickering in the SP is essentially a fight for supremacy. The UP chief minister is being accused of not performing by his own people and in a language that is objectionable,” said BJP secretary general Arun Singh.

Asked if the BJP stands to gain from the Yadav family feud, he said the party is in a position to form the government on its own in UP and does not rely on such feuds for an electoral push.

BJP leaders accepted there was no anti-incumbency per se against the chief minister though the public mood was against the SP for failing to curb ‘goonda raj’ and corruption. Akhilesh’s popularity was one of the reasons that had prompted the BJP not to project any leader as its chief ministerial face, besides the absence of a tall leader from the state, said a party spokesperson.