This is circa 2026.
In the 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly at present, the Samajwadi Party has 101 MLAs and the Congress has two. SP had gained 64 seats from its tally of 37 in 2017.
The BJP won 302 in 2017 and in 2022, it dropped to 255.
We all are in debate on Gen Z and the 'era of neo-aspirational India' .. a step beyond neo-middleclass; but there was a time Netas preferred being populist. Former UP strongman Mulayam Singh Yadav was one of them.
In 1990, as chief minister he had ordered the scrapping of the compulsory English paper in the state’s provincial civil services exam. We were in the north east. The then Governor of Nagaland, Late M M Thomas was among others to react angrily. Dr Thomas had said banning English was "foolish, illogical and improper". English, he added, "is no longer a preserve of British, it is our English". This was in the context of the mergence of Indian writing in English.
But Mulayam played his politics. The aspirational groups in India's largest state - then with 85 Lok Sabha MPs -- were "left out" in the post-liberalisation era. However, the Lohiaite push for mother tongues went well with a section of the electorate garnering votes to the Samajwadi Party.
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| Blogger's story : The Hitavada (newspaper), Nagpur : June 17, 1990 |
It's true, Mulayam was an ear-on-ground Neta; but he was mistaken only to woo Muslims and Yadavs. Other OBCs and Dalits were left out. Dalits went with Mayawati-led BSP for sometime; later on in 2014 and 2017 (assembly polls); the BJP marshalled all its strengths to win other Hindus including the non-Yadav OBCs - which had emerged a big political constituency.
Mulayan Singh Yadav served as Defence Minister from 1996 to 1998
Here is a snapshot on caste groups in 2017 in UP.
• About 23.6% of the population including Brahmins, Rajputs/Thakurs, Baniyas, Kayasthas, Jats, and Gujjars were in general category.
• Other Backward Classes (OBCs): ~45% total,
divided into:
• Dominant/Core OBCs (Yadav, Lodh, Kurmi, Jat, etc.): ~18%
• Most Backward Classes (MBCs): ~16.7% (including sub-castes like Rajbhars, Nishads, Kumhars, Kahars) Another factor was important too. Slowly, Mulayam tried to accommodate and 'politically settle' his son Akhilesh Yadav. It is to Mulayam's good luck and successful polital maneuvering that i n 2012 -Akhilesh was made the new chief minister.
"I love the 'Mahabharat' analogy. In fact, when Mulayam had chosen to make his son the CM in 2012; we immediately saw in the eye of our mind -- the image of Dhritarashtra," says one Sanjeev Nachiketa, a former UP politician and now settled in Gujarat with his corporate employee daughter.
However, between Mulayam and Lalu; it appeared Mulayam was more gutsy and even more practical. By 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the Samajwadi Party leadership discovered that 'creating mere fear psychosis' of the Hindu--tiger was not going to help him.
In fact, in 2017 - BJP had decided to make Hindutva a principal plank for UP instead of 'development'; hence probably the SP was cornered; the BSP hold dropped and Yogi Adityanath became chief minister.
Looking back, his first stint as chief minister in Uttar Pradesh - from 1989 to 1991 - was short lived but not uneventful. It culminated in his party separating from Congress, whose support it depended upon.
What cost him dear in the 1991 elections was his decision in October 1990 to order security forces at the Ayodhya mosque to fire upon mostly Hindu protesters.
His actions during the stand-off displeased Hindus and Muslims alike - the former accused him of being pro-Muslim and heavy-handed while the minorities said he could not stop Hindu mobs going on the rampage. He had a unique mercurial style and supposedly single-handedly sabotaged Sonia Gandhi's 1999 bid to become Prime Minister. He encouraged a Rajya Sabha entity Amar Singh - at times making him more powerful than himself. But socialists team was incomplete without Mohan Singh, Janeshwar Mishra and Rewati Raman Singh.
Amar Singh 'introduced' Mulayam, a hardy street-fighter to a number of things which changed his politics and personal habits forever.
In 1993, Mulayam famously joined hands with Kanshi Ram and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) to form a government that halted the BJP's rise, though the partnership dramatically collapsed in the 1995.
How caste games often work and perhaps also do not work at times?
Except the BJP alliance,
the SP alliance, BSP, and INC seem to have taken into consideration the number of Muslim voters in ticket distribution.
Bania/Kayastha voters seem to be in a significant number, but the political parties have not taken risk in nominating candidates from this community.
The political parties also seem to have avoided nominating a large number of candidates from the most backward castes, instead of which, they seem to have relied on mobilising them through alliance with smaller caste-based political parties such as the Nishad Party, Suheldeo Rajbhar, Bhartiya Samaj Party etc.
Now, amid rumours of a rift over seat-sharing for the 2027 UP Assembly polls, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has sought to project Opposition unity, saying the issue was not only about seats, but about victory in the upcoming elections.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Samajwadi Party won 37 seats in Uttar Pradesh, including Faizabad, while its ally Congress won six seats. The BJP won 33 seats and the NDA 36 in the state.
Mulayam was a former wrestler. He almost used the sports' style in politics.
He believed in OBC mobilisation but executed only Yadav mobilisation and banked a lot in wooing Muslims. But he left a legacy of feud-infested family and extreme cronyism.
Mulayam also made the use of Hindi mandatory in offices, courts and local establishments. It took years to change. It was only in the first decade of the new century that Mulayam made peace with the SP’s move to discard its anti-English stand.
This timing coincided with his foreign-educated son Akhilesh's rise in the party organisation.
ends
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