Akhilesh to look for lost mojo in Agra meet; Mulayam's presence doubtful

Akhilesh would be elected as party chief for 5 years, giving him the reins until the 2019 parliamentary and 2022 UP polls are done

Samajwadi Party (SP) seems desperate to rediscover its mojo at its national convention in Agra on October 5, at which about 15,000 delegates from 25 states are expected to congregate at the Targhar Ground in Agra Cantonment.

The delegates would deliberate on future poll strategies and the party’s stand on political, social and economic issues. The SP leaders would discuss the prevailing political and socioeconomic conditions in the country, the policies of the Narendra Modi government and their ramifications on the nation and people.

Under the new party constitution, current party president and former UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav would be elected as the party chief for 5 years, which would give him the reins until the 2019 parliamentary and 2022 UP polls are done.

On October 4, the party’s national executive would also hold its meet in Agra and later in the evening Yadav is slated to address the media, party’s spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary said.

The convention would essentially discuss ways in which the SP cadre could reach out to the people and create awareness about the purported failures of the BJP government both at the Centre and the state while highlighting the pro-development and pro-people government of Akhilesh (2012-17) in UP.

The recent Banaras Hindu University (BHU) incident, in which girl students were cane-charged by police is likely to be discussed and strategy chalked to attract youth and students to the party fold. Akhilesh has over the past few days been actively meeting student leaders in Lucknow.

Meanwhile, there is still no clarity if party patriarch and founder Mulayam Singh Yadav would attend the Agra meeting.

Recently, Akhilesh had met Mulayam at his residence here and according to sources, he requested his father to grace the executive, although there is still no definite word in this regard. The father-son duo has not been on good terms for quite some time after Akhilesh took the party under his wings on January 1, 2017 when Mulayam was removed as the party president at the height of the intraparty and Yadav family feud over the issue of leadership.

In the recently held 8th state party convention in Lucknow, both Mulayam and his younger brother Shivpal Singh Yadav were not invited.

On September 25, Mulayam had announced that he was not forming a new party to rival Akhilesh led SP. Talking to newspersons at Lohia Trust office, a stone’s throw from SP headquarters, Mulayam had said there was no proposal to float a new party, although it had been widely speculated then that the veteran socialist leader would announce his independent political journey along with Shivpal.

In run-up to the 2012 UP poll, Akhilesh had been at the forefront of leading the party with his statewide bicycle rallies and yatras that had consolidated the youth voters in his favour. This had ultimately led to the SP win and dislodging the Mayawati government (2007-12) in the state. However, both SP and Akhilesh could not maintain the momentum and were handed successive poll defeats, despite SP aligning with Congress in 2017 UP poll to stop the BJP and Modi juggernaut.