Lucknow: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday listed an interesting benefit of ‘pariwarwad’ (dynasty politics) – something that the party has often been accused of indulging in.Addressing a news conference at party headquarters, Akhilesh said the recent attempts of BJP to poach SP MPs failed because five of them belonged to the same family.Akhilesh was referring to the recent reports of BJP’s attempt to orchestrate a split in the SP ahead of the Monsoon session to secure the numbers for Delimitation Bill, when he said MPs from quite a few political parties did split, but the SP MPs didn’t.“Kabhi socha aapne ki Samajwadi Party kyon nahi tooti … kyonki usmein paach saansad ek ki pariwar ke the … aur humare kai Muslim saansad the aur kai pure socialist … toh kabhi kabhi pariwarwaad ka labh bhi hota hai (Why Samajwadi Party did not split … because five of its MPs were from one family … and many of our MPs were Muslims … and many of them were hardcore socialists … sometimes dynasty politics helps),” Akhilesh said.Samajwadi Party has often been described as one of the largest and most powerful political families of not only Uttar Pradesh but India as well.In 2016, 11 members of the family hailing from three generations were elected at different levels right from zila panchayat level to Parliament.The five MPs referred to by Akhilesh include himself, the Lok Sabha member from Kannauj, and his wife Dimple Yadav, who represents Mainpuri. Also among them are Aditya Yadav, son of Akhilesh’s uncle Shivpal Yadav and MP from Badaun; Akshay Yadav, son of SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav and MP from Firozabad; and cousin Dharmendra Yadav, who represents Azamgarh.Dharmendra is the son of Mulayam’s brother Abhay Ram Yadav. The family also includes uncle Ram Gopal Yadav in the Upper House of Parliament.The Muslim MPs that Akhilesh referred to include Afzal Ansari from Ghazipur seat, Iqra Choudhary from Kairana Lok Sabha constituency, Zia Ur Rehman from Sambhal and Mohibullah Nadvi from Rampur. While Mohibullah happens to be a first-timer, the remaining three have a well-known political history and a strong bond with the SP.
