Samajwadi Party (SP) co-founder Mulayam Singh seems to be truly cornered by his son and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, what with he announcing his son as the party's chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming UP Assembly elections and all?
It now seems Akhilesh, who has already unseated his father from the post of SP national president and made him eat crow on a number of other issues and decisions, is taking things a step further. It has emerged that Congress president Sonia Gandhi's daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will campaign for the Assembly polls alongside Akhilesh's wife and SP leader Dimple Yadav.
Priyanka's political prowess
Although Priyanka Gandhi has never tested electoral waters, she is often considered a strong orator and leader, despite her limited exposure to politics. She is often considered as powerful and charismatic as her grandmother and former prime minister Indira Gandhi, and there have been instances when people within the Congress have asked her to take up the mantle of party president from Sonia, bypassing Rahul entirely.
Priyanka's political grit has been on display only a handful of times before this, but has made headlines almost every time. For example, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi — then the Gujarat chief minister and the BJP's prime-ministerial candidate — had said in an interview in the run-up to the 2014 General Elections that Priyanka was "like a daughter" to him, she had replied that she was Rajiv Gandhi's daughter. The stern reply had had two effects: It had invoked a mostly-respected former prime minister, and somehow shown Modi in poor light.
Akhilesh getting his way?
If Priyanka does campaign with Dimple Yadav, it would mean that Akhilesh Yadav's dream of an alliance of the SP with the Congress was coming true, despite father Mulayam being staunchly against it.
Combined with other factors, like Akhilesh himself emerging as a strong leader given that he has relegated his father to the post of "marg darshak" within the SP, this new campaign strategy could help the regional party overcome the anti-incumbency factor and let Akhilesh return as chief minister, possibly with the support of the Congress.
