Himalayauk himalaya Gaurav Uttarakhand
There was no clear signal from the Mulayam camp till late on Monday night about its next move, experts day that the disenfranchised SP has virtually no card left to play. Mulayam is out of time to float a new regional party on his own as the process takes a month at the minimum and there is no time for such a course of action. He can “acquire” an existing party and set up candidates but he will be handicapped by the lack of time in publicising such an outfit and its symbol.
Defeated by his son, veteran Samajwadi leader Mulayam Singh Yadav has very limited options left. Will he bow down before Akhilesh and end his illustrious political career as a defeated general? Or, he still has the gumption to fight back?
If these possibilities do not work out, Mulayam may find himself severely disadvantaged in the elections as his nominees will then be forced to contest on different symbols allotted to independent candidates in various constituencies.
On the other hand, the emergence of Akhilesh as a powerful leader within the party is likely to put a seal on the future of Shivpal who was his chief rival during the entire controversy. While Akhilesh has always shown due respect for his father, so far he has shown no flexibility towards both Shivpal and Amar.
The other, perhaps not very palatable option given the bitterness that has marked the family feud, is to accept the Akhilesh camp’s terms that include removing brother Shivpal and close aide Amar Singh from all prominence. It would also mean reconciling to the return of cousin Ram Gopal whom Mulayam blames for “instigating” Akhilesh.
