Lucknow: The severe jolt to caste politics in the recent Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh has also put a question mark on the future of Yadav politics in the state. Several Yadav leaders from the Samajwadi Party (SP) as well as those in other parties have faced defeat in the elections, indicating that Yadavs are no longer voting for their community, instead they are now voting for a party of their choice, the BJP in this case.
Dimple Yadav, wife of SP President Akhilesh Yadav, lost her Kannauj seat to BJP’s Subrat Pathak, a Brahmin. Kannauj has about 3.5 lakh Yadav voters which made it a safe seat for a Yadav candidate. The defeat of Dimple Yadav clearly indicates that the Yadav community did not vote for her en bloc and went with the BJP instead.
Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav could win his Mainpuri seat by the lowest margin of his career. He won by 94,000 votes and lost from the Bhogaon Assembly seat. Apart from Dimple Yadav, two other members of the Yadav family – Dharmendra Yadav from Badaun and Akshay Yadav from Ferozabad – have been defeated. Other Yadav leaders like Bhalchandra Yadav (Cong), Ramakant Yadav (Cong) and Shivpal Yadav (Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party) also lost the elections. A veteran SP leader, who has been pushed to the periphery in the Akhilesh Yadav regime, was more forthcoming. He said that Mulayam Singh Yadav made sure that other caste leaders were also a part of his coterie.
