The infighting in Uttar Pradesh’s ruling Yadav family has ushered in a new tradition in the Samajwadi Party—that of touching the feet of senior leaders. Touching feet, a common practice of seeking the blessings of elders, was, according to SP insiders, disliked by socialist icons Ram Manohar Lohia and Chaudhary Charan Singh, the reason why SP leaders were not allowed to touching the feet of senior leaders in public.
According to a senior SP leader from western UP, touching the feet of senior leaders is being noticed ever since a fight broke out between UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and his uncle Shivpal Yadav. “As the party witnessed the formation of two almost rival camps, young leaders from both sides have started touching their seniors’ feet from both sides as a show of loyalty,” he said.
“Lohiaji and other stalwarts of the socialist movement considered the touching of senior politicians’ feet as sycophancy. They discouraged the practice, especially publicly, as in the Assembly, in Parliament, at party functions, etc. The SP has maintained this practice, although there is no official communication on this. But you will not often see SP leaders touching anyone’s feet as we regard all equally,” said a senior SP leader from Lucknow.
However, many SP leaders have been seen touching the feet of Mulayam Singh Yadav recently. Last month, during a party event in Lucknow, former minister Gayatri Prajapti was seen sitting at the feet of the party supremo. He was later seen touching the feet of Akhilesh Yadav as he took oath after being re-inducted in the Cabinet. Similarly, Akhilesh Yadav was seen touching the feet of Mulayam and uncle Shivpal during the party’s silver jubilee function last week.
“There is no punishment for those who touch the feet of senior leaders and seek their blessings. It’s just that such practice is discouraged by our party,” said the SP leader.
He said that touching the feet of senior leader is customary in the Bahujan Samaj Party. “See, almost all BSP leaders are supposed to touch the feet of party chief Mayawati. If they don’t bow to her, they are even shown the door. We are not like BSP,” he said.