 "Will he succumb to family pressure? Akhilesh's action to define his career")
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav knows that this is his moment. The 43-year-old might win, or he might lose, the state assembly polls in early 2017. But what he does until then will define his political career for the next few decades.
An Akhilesh victory in the assembly elections will mark the end of the political careers of his father Mulayam Singh Yadav and uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav. According to sources close to 'Netaji', as Mulayam Singh is referred to in Samajwadi Party, he wants his son to succeed him but not at the cost of the ambitions of his younger brother and his family.
This is, therefore, the pulls and pressures within the Yadav clan as it prepares for the assembly polls.
On Sunday, Akhilesh met his father with a list of 403 candidates for each of the 403 seats of the UP assembly. His uncle Shivpal tweeted that 175 candidates have been selected and that as the party chief he will have the last call on the names.
Clearly, neither uncle nor nephew are willing to retreat. While Shivpal might still come across as willing to strike a compromise, Akhilesh understands that any suggestion that he has caved into the demands of this father and uncle would boomerang and sully his image. The SP leadership also knows that it stands little chance of winning the assembly polls without Akhilesh.
Akhilesh also has support from Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi, and the two are said to be keen on striking an alliance. According to sources close to Akhilesh, his party could leave 78 seats for the Congress. But here again, the Congress old guard is unwilling to concede. Congress state unit chief Raj Babbar has rejected any possibility of an alliance.
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Both Congress and SP are facing a generational shift. Akhilesh doesn't want tickets to be given to tainted ministers and legislators, or those with a criminal background. But Shivpal has tweeted that the "winnability" of a candidate would be the main consideration for selection. Shivpal's list includes Atiq Ahmed from Kanpur, who has 40 criminal cases against him, including murder. Others are Sigbatullah Ansari, the brother of gangster Mukhtar Ansari, and Aman Mani Tripathi, accused of murdering his wife.
Those close to Akhilesh say that tickets to such people will negate the clean image of the Chief Minister. While his father has tilted in favour of his younger brother when it comes to party matters, Akhilesh has shown no sign of throwing in the towel. While he hasn't been disrespectful to his father he has stood his ground.
The family feud is likely to get more bitter in the coming days with Akhilesh willing to sacrifice these elections rather than succumb to the pressures by his father and uncle. It remains to be seen if Akhilesh will have the gumption and the courage to carry out his plans, and live to fight a longer political battle.