After back-to-back failures, can Akhilesh Yadav find his lost mojo?

Akhilesh, once hailed as a rising star on the Indian political landscape after the SP dislodged the BSP government in the 2012 UP polls, is today desperately in search of his lost mojo

On June 3, when Samajwadi Party (SP) President Akhilesh Yadav was on a thanksgiving visit to Azamgarh after winning the Lok Sabha polls from the constituency, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Supremo Mayawati — faraway, in New Delhi — hinted that the grand alliance between the two arch-rivals was over.

Mayawati, who is acknowledged as a shrewd negotiator in electoral politics, blamed her mahagathbandhan partner SP for the poll debacle in UP, alleging the socialist outfit had failed to transfer its traditional vote bank to the BSP. Chairing a meeting of senior party functionaries in the national capital, she noted Akhilesh