How Akhilesh Yadav Managed Mayawati, Kept Hopes Alive For SP-BSP

New Delhi: Though labelled ‘Babua’ by his political rivals, Akhilesh Yadav, the key architect of the gathbandhan in Uttar Pradesh, seems to have mastered the art of managing the unmanageable in UP. The way Samajwadi Party President, Akhilesh managed BSP’s Mayawati, perceived as an unforeseeable alliance partner, has silenced many of his harsh critics.

Known for her unpredictable stand in politics, Mayawati had earlier parted ways with Akhilesh’s father Mulayam Singh Yadav and even ditched more mature politicians such as Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L.K. Advani and Kalyan Singh. However in the last couple of months, SP insiders are of the view that due to Akhilesh Yadav’s deft handling of alliance, the SP-BSP combine would not only emerge winner but would also hold the key to forming the next government at the Centre in the event of a fractured mandate.

In all the seven phases of Lok Sabha polls, Mayawati joined Akhilesh Yadav on the dais 22 times and held together almost half-a-dozen grand road shows. To the surprise of many, Akhilesh even succeeded in persuading Mayawati to share platform with Mulayam Singh Yadav in a rally in Mainpuri, on the eve of the third phase of polls. According to Singh, the SP and BSP cadres too maintained cordial relations, seen for the first time between the supporters of the two arch rivals in Uttar Pradesh. Election results in the past reveal that SP has always been weak in the urban seats. Despite this Akhilesh agreed to concede key rural constituencies to the BSP and accepted seats like Lucknow, Varanasi, Kanpur or Ghaziabad where chances of SP’s winnability have been very low. (IANS)

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