Lucknow: After five years as chief minister of India’s largest state and two decades in politics, Akhilesh Yadav is leading the assembly election campaign on his own for the first time.
Akhilesh seems to have firmly established himself as the main challenger to the BJP in these assembly elections with the support of the Samajwadi Party. Yogi Adityanath The rally for what follows as their ‘Samajwadi Vijay Yatra’ spreads across the state and activates a cadre of red hats to take on the formidable saffron machinery.
Akhilesh’s rise from his father Mulayam Singh YadavThe silence in the BSP and Congress camps and the silence of kinship has presented the battle of UP as bipolar. Akhilesh has played his part with his on-the-ground visibility – he is no longer a “Twitter leader”, even to opponents – and quick replies to stay in conversation. For example, right after Modi coined “UPYogi” in support of the chief minister, Akhilesh hit back with an “un-UPYogi”.
After a bitter battle for supremacy within the Yadav clan in 2016 and subsequent defeats in two successive elections, the Samajwadi descendants managed to put their work together. He overcame internal wrangling to firmly establish himself as a leader socialists, And he is working on a different coalition metric.
With his previous two alliances – with the Congress in 2017 and the BSP in 2019 – having failed, Akhilesh this time has reached out to smaller, caste-based regional parties across UP, especially those with a non-Yadav OBC base. This was inspired by the findings of the SP’s surveys, which indicated in the 2017 elections that over 50% OBCs voted for the BJP and only 15%. The SP chief wanted to send a message that the party was ready to take the side of non-Yadav OBCs.
After supporting farmers’ protest at Delhi’s borders against agricultural laws, Akhilesh formed an alliance with RLD leader Jayant Choudhary to keep an eye on the Jat vote. Akhilesh and Choudhary are in seat-sharing talks as SP looks beyond its MY (Muslim-Yadav) image to form alliances with Jats, Kurmis, Rajbhars and Dalits. Meanwhile, it is trying to woo Brahmins through proposals like installation of Parashurama idols across UP.
To strengthen ties with smaller organisations, Akhilesh supported the idea of a caste census. With Keshav Dev Maurya of SP great cast, former BJP ally Om Prakash Rajbhar’s Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party and Party (Socialist) for the Superrajbhar and Nonia Chauhan communities, respectively.
Akhilesh laughs at uncle within the party Shivpali, who had formed a separate organization but will now help the SP manage the Yadav belt. The huge crowd at Akhilesh’s rallies, especially the youths who wait for hours to see and hear him, has energized the SP workers. They are hopeful that this will translate into votes.
Akhilesh seems to have firmly established himself as the main challenger to the BJP in these assembly elections with the support of the Samajwadi Party. Yogi Adityanath The rally for what follows as their ‘Samajwadi Vijay Yatra’ spreads across the state and activates a cadre of red hats to take on the formidable saffron machinery.
Akhilesh’s rise from his father Mulayam Singh YadavThe silence in the BSP and Congress camps and the silence of kinship has presented the battle of UP as bipolar. Akhilesh has played his part with his on-the-ground visibility – he is no longer a “Twitter leader”, even to opponents – and quick replies to stay in conversation. For example, right after Modi coined “UPYogi” in support of the chief minister, Akhilesh hit back with an “un-UPYogi”.
After a bitter battle for supremacy within the Yadav clan in 2016 and subsequent defeats in two successive elections, the Samajwadi descendants managed to put their work together. He overcame internal wrangling to firmly establish himself as a leader socialists, And he is working on a different coalition metric.
With his previous two alliances – with the Congress in 2017 and the BSP in 2019 – having failed, Akhilesh this time has reached out to smaller, caste-based regional parties across UP, especially those with a non-Yadav OBC base. This was inspired by the findings of the SP’s surveys, which indicated in the 2017 elections that over 50% OBCs voted for the BJP and only 15%. The SP chief wanted to send a message that the party was ready to take the side of non-Yadav OBCs.
After supporting farmers’ protest at Delhi’s borders against agricultural laws, Akhilesh formed an alliance with RLD leader Jayant Choudhary to keep an eye on the Jat vote. Akhilesh and Choudhary are in seat-sharing talks as SP looks beyond its MY (Muslim-Yadav) image to form alliances with Jats, Kurmis, Rajbhars and Dalits. Meanwhile, it is trying to woo Brahmins through proposals like installation of Parashurama idols across UP.
To strengthen ties with smaller organisations, Akhilesh supported the idea of a caste census. With Keshav Dev Maurya of SP great cast, former BJP ally Om Prakash Rajbhar’s Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party and Party (Socialist) for the Superrajbhar and Nonia Chauhan communities, respectively.
Akhilesh laughs at uncle within the party Shivpali, who had formed a separate organization but will now help the SP manage the Yadav belt. The huge crowd at Akhilesh’s rallies, especially the youths who wait for hours to see and hear him, has energized the SP workers. They are hopeful that this will translate into votes.
,