Akhilesh grows bigger than his party

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav is growing bigger than his Samajwadi Party. From party policy and ideology, he has managed to shift the focus of the party to his own personality.

“Brand Akhilesh” is being carefully cultivated ahead of the Uttar Pradesh polls and preparations are afoot to turn the Assembly polls into a “presidential type of election”— quite like the 2014 Lok Sabha polls where Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s personality dominated the scenario.

“Personality branding” is being aggressively pursued by CM Akhilesh. The ideology of Lohia no longer exists on party posters and hoardings and even senior SP leaders are being pushed to the sidelines. Slogans also focus on the CM—Kaho dil se, Akhilesh phir se and Chalo Akhilesh ke saath, Chalo vikas ke saath. The new party anthem, Akhilesh ka kaam bolta hai, naam bolta hai has been set as the caller tune of all Akhilesh loyalists and the 2012 anthem Man se hai Mulayam is no longer heard in Samajwadi corridors.

To coincide with the Assembly polls, a book of speeches by Akhilesh Yadav, titled, Parivartan ki Aahat is being readied for release next month. All government hoardings have larger than life photographs of the CM and party events are also dominated by his photographs, while those of other top SP leaders are getting increasingly smaller.

“The CM’s advisors including some professionals, have brought up this idea of image branding. The CM’s photo has been printed on laptops, school bags and ration cards that are being distributed to the people. His photograph dominates all government and party advertisements and hoardings. The idea is to create an image that is bigger than all his contemporary politicians,” said an official in the CM’s secretariat.

A young legislator felt that “Brand Akhilesh” would help in countering the anti-incumbency factor and ensure the return of the Akhilesh government.

“People now talk of Akhilesh Yadav and the party has almost become irrelevant. His image as a clean and efficient politician and a development-oriented administrator has got a tremendous fan following. Even his political rivals admire his personality and appreciate him at a personal level,” the MLA said.

Samajwadi Party leaders admit that Akhilesh Yadav’s image is getting bigger by the day, although the party seniors do not approve of the trend.

“This is against the grain of socialism where the focus should be on ideology and not personality because personalities can fail, but ideologies never do. Socialists have been edged out of the campaign which is not a healthy sign for the future of the party that has survived and thrived on collective leadership,” said a veteran socialist.

Ramesh Dixit, a political and social analyst, said, “Uttar Pradesh has never seen personality-based politics, but this is the first time the phenomenon is emerging. UP leaders apparently want to follow the Tamil Nadu pattern and the results of this would be an interesting case study for students of political science.”