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Uttar Pradesh: palace intrigue has left Akhilesh Yadav powerless, SP rudderless

Atul Chandra | Updated on: 10 February 2017, 1:47 IST

It was a scripted drama that gave the impression of turmoil in the Samajwadi Party but the purpose of it all was to show Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav his place.

On 14 August, Akhilesh's uncle Shivpal Yadav threatened to resign as minister and work for the party as "some leaders, officers and engineers are not responding to my orders".

Immediately, the family patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav intervened to set the house in order. On Independence Day, he lambasted Akhilesh and warned that Shivpal's exit would have disastrous consequences for the Samajwadi Party.

Also Read: It's uncle Shivpal vs nephew Akhilesh: Yadav family drama continues

On 20 August, Mulayam's younger brother had a one-on-one meeting with the chief minister, and he declared afterwards that all was well in the family. But it did not prevent Amar Singh from exploiting the situation and mounting pressure to extract his pound of flesh from Akhilesh.

A week after Shivpal's outburst, on 22 August, Amar almost repeated what Shivpal had said but, significantly, added, "I am a Mulayamwadi. But it has become a kind of crime to be Mulayamwadi." The remark implied that those opposed to him were "anti-Mulayam", and it's no secret who he was referring to - Akhilesh, Ramgopal Yadav and Azam Khan.

Six days later, Akhilesh Yadav appointed Amar's confidante Jaya Prada as vice chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Film Development Corporation, which has done reasonably well in promoting the state as a destination for movie shooting. She has been given the rank of a cabinet minister.

Amar was miffed that Jaya Prada had not been offered a position by the chief minister. He wanted her to be made head of the UPFDC, but the government chose Gopal Das Neeraj as the chairman. The poet and lyricist is close to Mulayam, who holds him in high esteem, so there was little Amar Singh could do about that.

Amar's grievance, however, may have been only partially redressed by the appointment of Jaya Prada. His other complaint about being made to sit behind Naresh Agarwal and Ramgopal in the Rajya Sabha remains to be resolved.

LDA is acquiring 3,500 acres of land to build 25,000 houses. It's new vice chairman is a Shivpal favourite

Shivpal's meeting with Akhilesh resulted in a bureaucratic reshuffle. Two postings drew attention -- that of the Lucknow district magistrate and the vice chairman of Lucknow Development Authority.

Pankaj Yadav, who is on deputation from Maharashtra, is the new vice chairman of LDA, allegedly one of the state's most corrupt institutions. Pankaj's previous department, Mandi, incidentally was under Shivpal.

Also Read: Is Mulayam playing the 'soft Hindutva' card as UP goes to polls in 2017?

What's significant is that the LDA is planning a new housing scheme to build 25,000 houses on Sultanpur Road. For this, 3,500 acres of land spread across 11 villages will be acquired.

Clearly, acquisition of a vast land bank of this size provides ample scope for corruption, in its purchase and payment of compensation. The LDA, and the new district magistrate Satyendra Singh, who allegedly doesn't have a clean image, will be in a position to greatly influence the exercise by, say, raising the circle rates which could turn it into a money spinner for the powers that be.

The latest bureaucratic changes have further weakened Akhilesh's position as chief minister. He already has a chief secretary, Deepak Singhal, who is close to Amar and Shivpal. And his principal secretary Anita Singh is Mulayam's confidante, and Akhilesh's attempts to dislodge her have failed.

Now with two key officials in the capital also supposedly from his rivals' camp, the chief minister may not be happy man, not least because Shivpal and Amar won't stop from undermining his position further even if it means committing political harakiri.

No wonder, Azam Khan, the stormy petrel of Samajwadi Party, sounded prophetic when he said Monday that the party was a sinking ship.

Also Read: Is Amar Singh trying to oust Akhilesh and bring back Mulayam?

First published: 30 August 2016, 6:20 IST