The 2024 Lok Sabha election was the first one after the death of Mulayam Singh Yadav, a three-time chief minister and three-time Parliamentarian whose political career spanned over six decades.
The late Yadav's son, 51-year-old Akhilesh, has stepped out of the shadow of his inherited legacy and beat his father's best, at least in Parliamentary polls.
ALSO READ: View | A tale of two EM elections
The revival of the Samajwadi Party under Akhilesh
The most Lok Sabha seats SP ever scored was 35 in 2004. Today, it has 37 on its own and 43 in Uttar Pradesh, with allies like the Indian National Congress.
The party has gone from being ranked thirteenth in the Lok Sabha by seats five years ago to the third largest now.
The SP vote share in Uttar Pradesh is now the highest since the party's founding in 1992. At its peak, when the party had 35 seats in the Indian Parliament, its vote share in its home state was 26.7%.
Atmanirbhar Akhilesh
The entire leadership of the opposition's 2024 campaign in UP rested on his shoulder, and he pulled off a surprise with a casual yet confident demeanour of a seasoned politician.
The Samajwadi Party stopped the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) juggernaut in Uttar Pradesh, a state Modi's party governs, well short of its 2019 tally. Party leader Akhilesh Yadav may have expected this feat, but most others didn't.
Yadav, a graduate of the University of Sydney, was 27 when he won his first election to the Lok Sabha. Since then, he has been a member of Parliament thrice and the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh once (2012 to 2017).
Not only did he step out of his father's shadow, Akhilesh didn't rely on a senior like he did in 2019.
This time, he took charge of the entire election strategy for the opposition bloc in the state, candidate selection, and management of allies.
Akhilesh reportedly stood his ground during the seat-sharing talks for the 2024 polls. He insisted and prevailed. 63 of his candidates contested the polls, and roughly half of them won.
The 2024 tally, without an alliance with the BSP, is nearly eight times more than five years earlier. The BSP's own tally fell to zero.
Yadav strategically targetted a larger pool of voters, which included backward communities (Pichchde), Dalits (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes), and minorities (Alpsankhyak), leading to the acronym PDA, which has become popular since the start of the 2024 election campaign.
Until the 2024 election results, the SP was known to have a loyal vote bank among the people of the Muslim and Yadav communities in Uttar Pradesh.
Embracing the privilege
Political dynasts aren't rare in India. But there are very few who are able to fend off the nepotism charge with as much ease as Akhilesh.
From public rallies to the floor of the assembly, Yadav doesn't deny his privilege.
There are at least a couple of viral videos of Yadav mocking his rival from the BJP, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, for his celibacy in response to the charge of nepotism. "Who has stopped you from growing your family?" he repeatedly asks.
He may have had the advantages of a dynast, but Yadav also had to contend with at least a five-year-long tug-of-war to control the party with his uncle Shivpal Yadav.
At the peak of this internal tussle in the party, the vote share fell to 18.1% in 2019. The two factions buried the hatchet before the elections and campaigned for the party in unison.
Since that game of thrones ended, Akhilesh has not only consolidated power within the party, managed to put together a credible coalition, and has, seemingly, created a new set of voters beyond the people of the Muslim and Yadav communities in the state.
He has definitely stepped out of the shadows of his father, uncle, other senior politicians in the state, and other national allies, into the national spotlight. Public and media scrutiny will only get tougher.
The late Yadav's son, 51-year-old Akhilesh, has stepped out of the shadow of his inherited legacy and beat his father's best, at least in Parliamentary polls.
Akhilesh Yadav has shown to be an able strategist and a politician who embraced his privilege, fought the battles outside his party and within, and emerged as a significant leader with a mind and currency of his own.
ALSO READ: View | A tale of two EM elections
The revival of the Samajwadi Party under Akhilesh
The most Lok Sabha seats SP ever scored was 35 in 2004. Today, it has 37 on its own and 43 in Uttar Pradesh, with allies like the Indian National Congress.
The party has gone from being ranked thirteenth in the Lok Sabha by seats five years ago to the third largest now.
The SP vote share in Uttar Pradesh is now the highest since the party's founding in 1992. At its peak, when the party had 35 seats in the Indian Parliament, its vote share in its home state was 26.7%.
| Uttar Pradesh | Samajwadi Party’s vote share in the state |
| 2009 Lok Sabha | 23.3% |
| 2012 Assembly election | 29.1% |
| 2014 Lok Sabha | 22.2% |
| 2017 Assembly election | 21.8% |
| 2019 Lok Sabha | 18.1% |
| 2022 Assembly election | 32.06% |
| 2024 Lok Sabha | 33.59% |
Atmanirbhar Akhilesh
The entire leadership of the opposition's 2024 campaign in UP rested on his shoulder, and he pulled off a surprise with a casual yet confident demeanour of a seasoned politician.
The Samajwadi Party stopped the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) juggernaut in Uttar Pradesh, a state Modi's party governs, well short of its 2019 tally. Party leader Akhilesh Yadav may have expected this feat, but most others didn't.
Yadav, a graduate of the University of Sydney, was 27 when he won his first election to the Lok Sabha. Since then, he has been a member of Parliament thrice and the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh once (2012 to 2017).
Not only did he step out of his father's shadow, Akhilesh didn't rely on a senior like he did in 2019.
In 2019, SP allied with Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) led by Mayawati. Yadav's party got to field candidates in roughly half of UP's 80 seats, while his senior Mayawati took an equal chunk. In the end, the BSP got ten seats, and the SP got five.
This time, he took charge of the entire election strategy for the opposition bloc in the state, candidate selection, and management of allies.
Akhilesh reportedly stood his ground during the seat-sharing talks for the 2024 polls. He insisted and prevailed. 63 of his candidates contested the polls, and roughly half of them won.
FILE PHOTO: Patna: Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav during 'Jan Vishwas Rally', in Patna, Sunday, March 3, 2024. (PTI Photo)
The 2024 tally, without an alliance with the BSP, is nearly eight times more than five years earlier. The BSP's own tally fell to zero.
Yadav strategically targetted a larger pool of voters, which included backward communities (Pichchde), Dalits (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes), and minorities (Alpsankhyak), leading to the acronym PDA, which has become popular since the start of the 2024 election campaign.
Until the 2024 election results, the SP was known to have a loyal vote bank among the people of the Muslim and Yadav communities in Uttar Pradesh.
Embracing the privilege
Political dynasts aren't rare in India. But there are very few who are able to fend off the nepotism charge with as much ease as Akhilesh.
From public rallies to the floor of the assembly, Yadav doesn't deny his privilege.
There are at least a couple of viral videos of Yadav mocking his rival from the BJP, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, for his celibacy in response to the charge of nepotism. "Who has stopped you from growing your family?" he repeatedly asks.
He may have had the advantages of a dynast, but Yadav also had to contend with at least a five-year-long tug-of-war to control the party with his uncle Shivpal Yadav.
At the peak of this internal tussle in the party, the vote share fell to 18.1% in 2019. The two factions buried the hatchet before the elections and campaigned for the party in unison.
Since that game of thrones ended, Akhilesh has not only consolidated power within the party, managed to put together a credible coalition, and has, seemingly, created a new set of voters beyond the people of the Muslim and Yadav communities in the state.
He has definitely stepped out of the shadows of his father, uncle, other senior politicians in the state, and other national allies, into the national spotlight. Public and media scrutiny will only get tougher.
First Published: Jun 7, 2024 9:28 AM IST
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