Why is Akhilesh Losing Friends Ahead of LS Polls?

On the eve of the 2022 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav was a much-envied politician.

He had created a rainbow alliance of OBC-centric parties which seemed to have come with a success formula.

However, as the result came in and the alliance failed to work the magic, Akhilesh began losing friends faster than he had made them.

One of the first to quit the SP alliance was the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) that, apparently, saw no future for itself with SP.

SBSP President Om Prakash Rajbhar began mending fences with the BJP-led alliance and though it took him over a year, he managed to return to the NDA and even got a ministerial position for himself.

Rajbhar repeatedly blamed Akhilesh for restricting himself to ‘air-conditioned drawing room politics’ and remaining disconnected with ground realities.

The next to move out was the Mahaan Dal and its President Keshav Dev Maurya who leveled a similar charge against Akhilesh.

“Though we were in alliance, but he never ever discussed issues with us. He never found time to meet us, and took decisions arbitrarily and alliances cannot work in this manner. He behaved like a dictator,” Maurya told IANS on Wednesday.

After this, the biggest jolt came from the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) which opted for an alliance with BJP just before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

According to RLD sources, their relationship became strained when Akhilesh insisted that of the eight seats he had promised them, SP candidates would contest on five.

“This is a new formula that Akhilesh has developed which says -- "your symbol, my candidate”. Which party will agree to such conditions? In politics you cannot expect a commander to lead another man’s army. The BJP naturally took advantage of the situation and announced Bharat Ratna for late Chaudhary Charan Singh and we could not just look away,” said a RLD leader.

The Apna Dal (K) is also facing similar problems with SP.

Apna Dal (K) leader Pallavi Patel was elected on a SP symbol in the assembly polls but she has made her displeasure very clear over selection of Rajya Sabha candidates and then the Lok Sabha candidates.

The Apna Dal (K) has said that they would join the NDA if they got an offer.

This Kurmi-centric party is biding its time but relations between them and SP have deteriorated beyond control.

The Janvadi Party (Socialist) has also severed ties with the Samajwadi Party.

Janvadi Party (Socialist) President Sanjay Chauhan said, "There was a dispute between our party and the SP over the distribution of seats. Akhilesh is not willing to accommodate his allies. An alliance cannot survive in such a situation."

Sanjay Chauhan's party had contested the elections in 2022 in alliance with the Samajwadi Party but could not win a single seat.

The Janvadi Socialist Party had also contested elections with the support of the BJP in 2007 and 2012, but could not win a seat in the state.

A Samajwadi Party leader, meanwhile, said, “Parties that have moved out of the alliance are the ones that have no base. They are not in a position to win even a single seat. For us, in the upcoming election, every seat matters. Their presence in the alliance did not benefit us and their absence will not damage us either.”