|
Lucknow: Just over two
months after Akhilesh Yadav took over the reins of Uttar Pradesh,
the Samajwadi Party seems to have fast-tracked its campaign to
pitch party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav as the next prime
ministerial candidate.
As the senior 73-year-old Yadav
himself does not refute the 'kendra ki mahatvakansha' (central
aspirations), the party has begun a dry run to gauge the minds of
the people through its leaders, who have begun to portray the
wrestler-turned-politician as the next prime minister.
Rajendra Chaudhary, a confidant of Mulayam Singh Yadav and party
spokesman, on a visit to Ghaziabad near Delhi, billed him as the
"fittest politician" for the top job and exhorted the socialist
friends to work in this direction in the next Lok Sabha polls due
in 2014.
The party machinery has swung into action, with a major publicity
blitzkrieg planned for projecting the Yadav chieftain as the
party's prime ministerial candidate.
According to party sources, orders have been given for hundreds of
thousands of posters, stickers, badges and other publicity
material, with the parliament building in the backdrop and Mulayam
Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav waving to a large gathering.
Slogans like 'UP to jeet liya, ab dilli ki baari hai' (Uttar
Pradesh has been won, now it is Delhi's turn), 'din raat cycle
chalana hai, neta ji ko pradhanmantri banana hai' (we have to make
neta ji prime minister) have been coined and a mission has been
set rolling.
Party insiders admit that the party, buoyed by a huge wave of
support that propelled it to 224 seats in the 403-member state
assembly, is now eyeing the "larger picture" and aiming to capture
60-65 seats so as to be in the king maker- like scenario in the
next Lok Sabha.
Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party's main stronghold, accounts for
80 Lok Sabha seats. Although the party has a pan-India presence,
Samajwadi leaders feel it should be able to mop up most seats in
Uttar Pradesh two years from now.
The leadership of the party, including its general secretary and
party leader in Rajya Sabha Ram Gopal Yadav, has been assigned the
task of building bridges with United Progressive Alliance (UPA)
allies and fence sitters, just in case the party repeats its
success in the Lok Sabha elections.
Close aides of Mulayam Singh Yadav told IANS that 'neta ji' was
not averse to the idea of being projected as the prime
minister-to-be.
"He has relinquished the UP's top seat for two reasons - ill
health and his ambitions for a larger role at the central level,"
a senior party leader said. Tuesday, a traders' group held a
convention here and vowed "not to rest till Mulayam became the
next PM".
The event had the blessings and support of the Samajwadi Party
leaders.
Interestingly, the man at the centre of all this has himself not
shied away from making his prime ministerial ambitions obvious.
Soon after his party's stunning election victory, he had chided an
overzealous crowd at Etawah to be disciplined or he would never be
able to become prime minister.
"Aap logon ko anushasan seekhna hoga agar aap mujhe pradhan mantri
bante dekhna chahte hain to." (You people will have to observe
discipline, if you want to see me as prime minister), he had told
the crowd.
Old hands in the socialist movement told IANS that Yadav's prime
ministerial ambition is known as he has never hidden his
willingness for the top job.
Mulayam Singh missed the bus in 1996 when stiff opposition from
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad put a rude brake to
his election as prime minister by the Third Front.
(Mohit Dubey can be contacted at mohit.d@ians.in)
|
Comments
|
Quick links