Ajay Kumar, Lucknow
The Samajwadi Party is currently struggling with a dilemma in politics. It is caught between a rock and a hard place. For this reason, while the Samajwadi Party is openly pursuing appeasement politics, it is unable to make a decision when it comes to Hindu politics. The situation of the Samajwadi Party has become such that in every decision of the Modi-Yogi government, Akhilesh sees only communalism and flaws. When it comes to religion, Akhilesh is looking for flaws in the Maha Kumbh. While everyone, including children, is praising Yogi for the successful organization of the Maha Kumbh, Akhilesh and his team are still stuck in politics over the stampede during the royal bath on Mouni Amavasya, where thirty people lost their lives.
The Samajwadi Party, whose Mulayam government had indiscriminately fired bullets at Karsevaks in Ayodhya in 1990, causing their deaths, has never disclosed how many people died in that incident. Interestingly, the Yogi government claims that thirty people died in the stampede, while Samajwadi Party leaders are calling it a lie. S.P. leaders argue that thousands of shoes, slippers, and bags were found at the site of the incident, proving that thousands must have died. But the question is, if we accept this argument by the Samajwadi Party leaders, including Akhilesh and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, that thousands of people died in the stampede, then why aren’t the victims, whose family members died in the stampede, coming forward? This question shows that the opposition is involved in a conspiracy to defame the Maha Kumbh and the Yogi government. Because of this, Dalits and backward classes are also starting to abandon Akhilesh. Today, Akhilesh has become a leader only for Muslims, and even within that, educated and liberal Muslims are increasingly aligning with the BJP.
It should also be remembered that Akhilesh Yadav has been opposing the Maha Kumbh since day one. This was also pointed out by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in the assembly, saying that since the beginning, the national president of the Samajwadi Party has been spreading rumors. Akhilesh was the first to say that there was no need to allocate so much money and expansion to the Maha Kumbh. Then he said that people aged 65-70 couldn’t take a bath in the Maha Kumbh. Later, he claimed that the term ‘Maha Kumbh’ didn’t even exist, and it was coined only to drain public funds. Akhilesh sarcastically remarked that 50 or 60 people have already arrived. Similarly, Lalu Yadav calls the Maha Kumbh unnecessary, and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee calls it the ‘Death Kumbh,’ but no one protests against them. Social media is also circulating photos and videos unrelated to the Maha Kumbh, spreading misinformation about the event.
It is noteworthy that the Samajwadi Party, which is now making a fuss about the Maha Kumbh, had previously done the same during the construction of the Ram Janmabhoomi temple in Ayodhya. Akhilesh Yadav wasn’t even present at the inauguration of the temple. The reason is clear: during elections, he sees flaws in the EVMs and the Election Commission. When Yogi talks about promoting Awadhi, Bhojpuri, and Bundeli languages, the Samajwadi Party raises the issue of promoting Urdu.
Samajwadi Party leaders need to understand that the same Bharatiya Janata Party, which was never allowed to rise in the political arena by Samajwadi Party’s former leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, has been given a golden opportunity to flourish due to Akhilesh Yadav’s irresponsible and immature politics. Under the leadership of Mulayam Singh, the Samajwadi Party won elections for the last time in 2012, with Akhilesh becoming the Chief Minister. Since then, Akhilesh has not been able to perform any significant political feat on his own. While the Samajwadi Party gained some success in the 2024 general elections, Akhilesh achieved this success with the support of Congress.
Today, Samajwadi Party, even with Congress’s support, is unable to win traditional seats that were once considered its strongholds. This was evident from its loss in the Kundarki seat in Moradabad during the last assembly elections and recently in the Milkipur seat in Ayodhya. This clearly proves that Akhilesh Yadav is unable to retain his base. It is another matter that Akhilesh takes pride in claiming to help the Aam Aadmi Party win in Delhi. This is the fate of Akhilesh and the Samajwadi Party. In the end, Akhilesh Yadav is getting trapped in his own web.
