SP feud, Kanpur train tragedy: Highlights of UP's political scene in 2016

Ramgopal Yadav also bore the brunt of the raging storm in the party as he was expelled from SP for six years

High octane sound and fury in the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) with crucial Assembly polls round the corner dominated the political spectrum in Uttar Pradesh in 2016 which also witnessed one of the country's worst train tragedies in recent times that left 150 dead in Kanpur.

Mulayam Singh Yadav virtually grappled with an unprecedented family feud that threatened to split SP ahead of the key elections, prompting major Opposition parties Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) to rework their caste arithmetic in the poll-bound state.

Cracks in the Yadav clan came to the fore around mid-year when senior SP leader Shivpal Yadav announced the merger of Quami Ekta Dal (QED) of mafia don-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, much to the chagrin of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.

 

Within three days of the announcement, SP parliamentary board called it off under pressure from the chief minister, setting off a chain of unsavoury events that shook the ruling party and the government for days till a fragile peace was brokered by Mulayam.

With Assembly elections weighing heavily on his mind, the chief minister in an effort to project himself as "Mr Clean", axed two ministers, including tainted Mines Minister Gayatri Prajapati, triggering tremors in the party that saw an angry Mulayam strip his son Akhilesh of the post of state SP chief and install his uncle Shivpal in his place.

In a tit-for-tat action, Akhilesh took away key portfolios of his uncle, leaving him fuming so much so that he sacked a number of pro-chief minister youth leaders, who headed various front organisations.

Mulayam's cousin Ramgopal Yadav also bore the brunt of the raging storm in the party as he was not only sacked from key posts, but expelled from SP for six years for backing Akhilesh and opposing Rajya Sabha colleague Amar Singh, the "outsider" starred as a villain of the piece in the entire episode.

As the noise within SP proved to be music to Opposition ears, Mulayam feared the ugly developments might hamper SP's poll prospects. He revoked all expulsions and made the fighting leaders bury their hatchet to send the message that all-is-well in the party.
 

As SP fought bouts of internal feud, BSP chief Mayawati sought to fish in troubled waters, seeking to drive a wedge in the ruling party camp to wean away the crucial Muslim vote bank.

Muslims, who account for nearly 20 per cent of Uttar Pradesh's population, are considered traditional vote bank of SP and their votes could end up with BSP if the internecine war in Mulayam's party did not end, experts feel.

While divided Muslim votes translate to gains for BJP, a consolidation will change the poll arithmetic as minorities play a crucial role in at least 125 of the 403 constituencies up for grabs.

BSP too faced rebellion with senior leaders like Swami Prasad Maurya, an OBC, and RK Chaudhary, a Dalit, besides some other legislators quitting the party, accusing Mayawati of "selling" party tickets and slamming her style of functioning. Brajesh Pathak, former MP and prominent Brahmin face of BSP, too parted ways with Mayawati.

BJP, on the other hand, went all out to woo voters holding 'Parivartan Yatras' across the state addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party president Amit Shah and a host of senior leaders, including Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, attacking SP, BSP and Congress in the same breath.

To counter Opposition onslaught, Akhilesh all along harped on development tune, propagating among the masses various welfare schemes, with the recent inauguration of rupees multi-crore Lucknow-Agra Expressway and trial run of Lucknow Metro coming in handy to drive home his message.

Congress on its part tried to regain its lost moorings in the state with its Vice President Rahul Gandhi setting out on a Deoria-to-Delhi 'Kisan Yatra' to highlight issues faced by farmers. The party fielded former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit as its chief ministerial candidate in UP expecting to garner Brahmin votes.

As the year almost drew to a close, note ban decision struck all and sundry as a bolt from the blue with non-BJP parties highlighting problems faced by commoners to slam Modi, who turned tables on them saying only those with huge black money were crying hoarse and often poking fun at Mayawati for her "discomfort" in the wake of demonetisation.