SP’s new road map

There is a wave of jubilation among the workers of the Samajwadi Party over the exit of powerful General Secretary Amar Singh
Pradeep Kapoor Lucknow
 
Joy seems palpable amongst Samajwadi Party (SP) workers after the expulsion of the super General Secretary, Amar Singh, from the organisation. Party workers have begun to see in the unceremonious exit of Singh an end to a politics of sleaze, corruption, manipulation and blackmail that had become synonymous with his persona. From this standpoint they see this is an opportunity for the SP to not only return to its old ideological moorings of socialism and concern for the common man, but also for seasoned war horse and their leader, Mulayam Singh Yadav to reclaim his space in UP politics.
 
The change after Amar Singh's fall from grace and eventual exit is visible in the way the party has been conducting itself. There is more freedom for leaders to express their views and a disappearance of 'cabal politics'. Political observers were surprised to see Mulayam Singh Yadav walking on the streets of Lucknow to stage a dharna to protest against price rise and the misrule of Mayawati led BSP government. Mulayam courted arrest with hundreds of party workers after a long gap of 18 years. Last time he was jailed was in 1992 when he led a protest of sugarcane farmers.
 
 Mulayam is also seen busy holding chaupals with party leaders and grass root workers to re-establish direct dialogue with the ordinary party workers.
 
Last 15 years of his association with Amar Singh had transformed Mulayam Singh from an austere understated politician from backwaters of UP into a leader who seemed more comfortable with corporate honchos. In recent years Mulayam Singh was seen more in the company of Amitabh Bachchan and Anil Ambani rather than ordinary people. He had in the process alienated his party men and all those with whom he had ideological affinity. In the process, all the organisational decisions, to the chagrin of others, were taken by Amar Singh. Invariably, Singh's decisions pertaining to SP were trade- offs with other political parties. For instance, the decision of the SP to extend support to Congress led by UPA, party spokesman Mohan Singh alleged, was decided by Amar Singh alone. He was not sure for what consideration. Hardnews had earlier reported that Amar Singh's decision to resign from the SP was taken to pre-empt the SP from withdrawing support from the UPA.

 
SP's leadership had been livid with the Congress high command for not reciprocating the same favours it had extended to Rahul and Sonia Gandhi in the last Lok Sabha elections to Dimple Yadav in the bye- elections to the parliament. SP had not fielded candidates against the Congress leaders and wanted it to do the same in Ferozabad. Dimple, who is Mulayam Singh Yadav's daughter-in-law, lost in the elections. Her defeat revived a demand in the SP that they should part ways from the UPA if they wanted to survive in UP.

With Mulayam in the driving seat again, the party workers are hopeful that the SPwill reclaim its lost glory in UP.
 
Hardnews learns that Mulayam Singh Yadav is in touch with Muslim and Left leaders and is willing to accommodate them for a future progressive alliance. Stage is also set for the return of Azam Khan who had been the Muslim face of the party.
 
Moreover, senior politicians like Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiyya and Abu Asim Azmi who were identified with the Amar Singh camp also switched their loyalties back to Mulayam.
 
SP has prepared a road map for future politics which includes reorganisation of party setup and regular meetings of the party workers.
 
Mulayam has also directed the party workers to identify local issues and prepare for a long struggle against Mayawati government.