Click to play videoLucknow: As polling for the first phase of elections in Uttar Pradesh draws near, Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav is facing serious problems.
Mulayam has been isolated in politics and now is gradually getting isolated by his ilk. Some of his relatives and close friends have also turned their backs on him.
His brother-in-law Promod Kumar Gupta was trying hard for a Samajwadi Party ticket, but when he did not get one, he turned rebel. Gupta claims that Mulayam has neglected even his own relatives.
“The new entrants have sidelined Mulayam's loyal party people,” says Gupta.
And the list doesn’t end here. Another brother-in-law Ausan Singh Yadav has decided to contest independently from the Derapur constituency.
One of Mulyam's most trusted friends Beni Prasad Varma has gone on to form the Samajwadi Kranti Dal. The party will contest at least 100 seats against Mulayam.
Former MP from the party Balram Yadav's son Ajaya Yadav or Guddu will also challenge Mulayam in his own constituency Bhartana.
“The family has established a control over the party, It's being controlled by four to five persons,” says Yadav, who is a Congress candidate.
Mulayam not only faces stiff competition from his relatives and close friends but there are also a dozen odd MLAs and his cabinet colleagues, many of whom are ministers, who have simply refused to accept tickets from the Samajwadi Party.
Prominent among them are Food and Civil Supplies Minister Raja Bhaiiya and minorities welfare minister Haji Yaqub Qureshi. However, Mulayam denies losing any support.
“What do you feel about your relatives and friends isolating you? I am not alone, people are with me,” Mulayam says.
However, in a state where political interests matter more than loyalties, those who have left Mulayam at this critical juncture may not hesitate to return if they sense even a slight chance of Mulayam's victory.
After all this is what Uttar Pradesh politics is all about.
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