Rajat Sharma

Mulayam Singh has still not lost hope

SP supremo Mulayam Singh’s situation vis-a-vis Akhilesh appears similar to that of Emperor Akbar, when the Mughal king’s son Salim revolted. A father may be unwilling to harm his son, but an emperor has to shoulder responsibility and cannot bow before his son’s intransigence. People who know Mulayam closely, and personally, have been saying that the patriarch is facing bad times in the autumn of his life. It was Mulayam who single-handedly built the party, helped others, made his son Akhilesh the CM, but the very same party is now slipping out of his control. Whatever may be the reasons, or merits, his well-wishers say that this should not have happened to Mulayam in old age. The patriarch has still not lost hope. He does not want to fight against his son. On Monday, he said at least thrice that his son Akhilesh will be the CM after the elections. Clearly, Mulayam wants that the entire party should put up a joint fight, and he fears that the Election Commission may freeze the party’s poll symbol – the bicycle. If the party breaks up, it will severely damage its poll prospects, and party workers would be fighting one another in districts. Mulayam Singh does not want this to happen.

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