The decades-old rivalry between the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party, on the backburner for long, has flared up again after Mayawati’s disciplinary measures against “political heir” Akash Anand. The 29-year-old has been divested of all posts and responsibilities, including that of “successor” and subjected to a very public snub.
“I declared Shri Akash Anand as the National Coordinator and successor, but in the larger interest of the party and the movement, he is being separated from both these important responsibilities until he attains full maturity,” Mayawati tweeted yesterday.
But as media focus turned to the BSP chief, who has kept a low profile for long, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav lashed out.
The BSP, he indicted, has lost the plot and the party’s “internal” changes are too little too late.
“The BSP is not seen winning even a single seat, because its traditional supporters are voting for India Alliance this time to save the constitution and reservation,” read a rough translation of a long post on X in Hindi by Mr Yadav.
बसपा ने अपने संगठन में बड़े बदलाव का जो भी क़दम उठाया है वो उनकी पार्टी का आंतरिक विषय है। दरअसल इसके पीछे असली कारण ये है कि बसपा की एक भी सीट आती हुई नहीं दिख रही है क्योंकि बसपा के अधिकांश परंपरागत समर्थक भी इस बार संविधान और आरक्षण को बचाने के लिए इंडिया गठबंधन को ही वोट दे…
— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) May 8, 2024
“The BSP is taking this as a failure of its organisation. That is why its top leadership is making such a big change… but the game has gone out of BSP’s hands… When the party has not won even a single seat in the last three phases despite being in its area of influence, then there is no hope for the remaining four,” Mr Yadav wrote. There was also an appeal for voters.
“In such a situation, we appeal to all voters that you don’t waste your vote and vote for candidates of India Alliance who are fighting to save the Constitution,” he added.
Ms Mayawati lost no time in retaliating in a series of posts on X, formerly Twitter.
“It would be better if the extremely anti-Dalit SP does not comment or worry about what is going on in the BSP organization. Instead, the SP leadership should only worry about the condition of their own family and the candidates of the Yadav community who have been fielded in the elections because the condition of all of them is very bad,” read one of her tweets.
The SP and the BSP have been traditional rivals since 1995, barring a brief period in 2019, when they contested the election together. After the defeat in the 2019 national election, the two parties had turned against each other with greater vehemence.
Mayawati had bitterly accused Akhilesh Yadav of ignoring political niceties, working “against non-Yadav backward communities” and even neglecting the Muslims while he was the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister.
