Three months after the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections results were announced, and two years before the Lok Sabha elections are to begin, Samajwadi Party national president Akhilesh Yadav has finally broken his ‘strategic silence’ over the role of the minority in his party. He has, for the first time, publically acknowledged and thanked their en-block voting in the assembly polls. Akhilesh was speaking to the national executive of the party’s minority wing on Thursday.
Until now Akhilesh appeared to have been following in the footsteps of the Bharatiya Janata Party which believes in “appeasement for none” stance, especially when it comes to the minorities in Uttar Pradesh. Fearing that the upper castes and the OBCs would consolidate and go to BJP side if Akhilesh sided openly with the minorities the SP chief kept a strategic silence and maintained a ‘no-comment’ stand on all minority issues. He kept mum when the hijab controversy erupted in Karnataka, on Azam Khan repeatedly being denied bail, bulldozers used to pull down structures of the minority heavyweights, etc. But despite his silence the upper caste Hindus and a large percentage of OBCs, excluding the Yadavs, did side with the BJP in the assembly polls, leaving SP high and dry. All that his silence got him was disappointment and anger from the Muslims who had supported him fully and openly. They had even failed to heed the call of Muslim leaders like Asaduddin Owaisi. The writing on the wall was clear, had it not been for them, the SP would not have won 111 seats, more so 33 out of the winning candidates are Muslims.
Supporters of Azam Khan and a section of SP party men have not minced words in criticizing Akhilesh for his lack of support in getting Khan out of jail. As a party head, he was not even present when Khan was released on bail recently. According to reliable sources, this was the last straw and Khan made sure he registered his displeasure by absenting himself from the state assembly session. Khan’s absence in the budget session after he was released on bail did not go unnoticed by the Opposition as well as the media.
The press gallery was abuzz with whispering when Khan’s son Abdullah, who was also in jail and released just before the UP assembly polls, chose to show his resentment if not verbally, by his attitude. During the session when the entire SP and its allies were protesting against government policies and stormed the well of the House, Abdullah chose to remain seated. Surely this was his way of registering his protest against the party which had failed to stand by both his father and him during their most difficult days. The rift was clear and loud.
Well-wishers of the party and a section of his party expressed their displeasure at the continuous ignoring of the Muslims. Seems Akhilesh realized his folly and before things got worst he mended his attitude towards the minority.
Criticizing the BJP politics of hate, Akhilesh in his address urged the minority not to be taken in by the BJP politics of dividing hate. He said that the minorities must read into the BJP’s ploy of making them feel insecure and unsure of their future in the country. He thanked the Muslims for their support of the party and assured them to look after their welfare and their interests.
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