UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav finally took a strong stand against Mukhtar Ansari. He stood his ground by not agreeing to a merger with Ansari’s party. This move of his has certainly raised his equity and position both within his party and the government since it was generally considered that Akhilesh Yadav was more at the mercy of his uncles and had no say before his father. Akhilesh has sent out a clear signal that the Assembly elections would be fought under his leadership and he would be the face of the polls and all decisions would be taken by him. However the merger announcement with Mukhtar Ansari’s party had given BJP enough ammunition which was quite discernible from Amit Shah’s speech today.