Big test for Samajwadi Party bahu: Can Dimple Yadav retain Mulayam Singh’s bastion Mainpuri?

It’s a day of hectic polling across the country today. Several by-elections are being held along with the second phase of the Gujarat Assembly polls. Three by-polls are in Uttar Pradesh but all eyes are on Samajwadi Party (SP) bahu Dimple Yadav, who will contest for party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Lok Sabha seat in Mainpuri.The Samajwadi Party had announced former chief minister and party chief Akhilesh Yadav’s wife Dimple Yadav as its candidate after the seat was left vacant following the party founder’s death on 10 October. Today’s by-poll is a big test for the Yadav family. The party led by Akhilesh held a vigorous campaign for the seat which was held by his father for five terms.Why Mainpuri matters Mainpuri matters even more for the party, especially after it lost the other crucial seats which were considered strongholds – Azamgarh and Rampur – to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the June by-elections.After the big loss, Akhilesh’s absence from the campaigning for the two seats became a talking point. Now he has put all his weight behind the Mainpuri seat.Dimple’s choice for the Mainpuri seat came as a surprise among political circles after the electoral setbacks in the June by-polls. Many believed that Akhilesh’s cousin and former Mainpuri Lok Sabha MP Tej Pratap Yadav would be picked. However, with the family’s legacy at stake, the SP chief decided to go ahead with his wife Dimple.After Mulayam’s death, the Mainpuri by-poll is the first big challenge for Akhilesh.Why Dimple was picked Party insiders say that Dimple will help garner sympathy votes after the demise of Mulayam Singh Yadav. “Akhilesh Yadav had four options: Tej Pratap Yadav, cousin Dharmendra Yadav, Dimple Yadav or someone from outside the family. Most of us had assumed it would be Tej Pratap, but Akhilesh ji has chosen Dimple ji because she is perhaps most suited to carry forward Netaji’s legacy in Mainpuri,” said a senior SP leader.Dimple’s name was finalised after Akhilesh met party leaders from the Yadav and Muslim communities and elders in the Yadav clan in Mainpuri last month. “Consider the caste equation in Mainpuri, where the Shakya community and Thakur votes are crucial. The party recently made Alok Shakya the new Mainpuri district president. And Dimple is a Thakur by caste before her marriage. It’s all part of a strategy,” a senior leader from the party told India Today after the candidature was announced.[caption id="attachment_11752091" align="alignnone" width="640"] The Mainpuri election is the biggest challenge that the Akhilesh Yadav-led party faces since Mulayam Singh's death. Dimple Yadav was picked as the legacy of the family is at stake in the constituency. PTI[/caption]There was fear that Akhilesh’s estranged uncle Shivpal Yadav would damage the party’s election prospects. He has claimed in the past that he is the political heir of Mulayam. Dimple, then many within the party felt, was a safer choice because it was unlikely that Shivpal Yadav would take a public stance against her, especially after the patriarch’s death.In the run-up to the election, Akhilesh and Shivpal have made a public show of unity, announcing that they have bridged their differences. And this is likely to benefit Dimple Yadav.What are Dimple Yadav’s chances?The SP bahu is up against BJP’s former MP Raghuraj Singh Shakya. Party leaders believe she has a strong chance of winning the by-poll.Dimple has been a Lok Sabha MP from Kannauj twice.According to SP spokesperson Ameeque Jamei, Dimple Yadav will have an easy win in Mainpuri. “Earlier, we had a woman MP (Jaya Bachchan) in Rajya Sabha; now we will have one in Lok Sabha,” he said.Mulayam Singh won the Lok Sabha elections from Mainpuri in 1996, 2004 (by-poll), 2009, 2014 and 2019. Called ‘Dhartiputra” by locals, he held a strong grip over the constituency. While he registered landslide victories in most polls, his margins reduced considerably in 2019. Netaji won 54 per cent of the votes and the BJP candidate Prem Singh Shakya garnered 43 per cent.[caption id="attachment_11752111" align="alignnone" width="640"] Dimple Yadav is likely to garner a lot of sympathy votes since the death of her father-in-law. Image courtesy: @dimpleyadav/Twitter[/caption]Chandra Prakash, a senior journalist, told The Wire in November, “Some Yadavs, along with non-Yadav OBCs and upper caste Hindus, also voted for the BJP in the last General Election. If the same trend continues in by-elections, the SP’s chances of winning will be bleak.”The BJP was hoping to benefit from the rift between Akhilesh and his uncle. But politics in India changes faster than seasons. For now, the two seem to be getting along. The truce between the uncle and nephew can dampen the prospects of the saffron party.The uncle has been campaigning for Dimple Yadav and even the bahu sent out a message to party workers and political rivals with a photo-op at Shivpal Yadav’s residence.The Congress is not contesting the election, making it a fight between the SP and the BJP.On Sunday, Dimple alleged that BJP leaders and workers were distributing cash and liquor at the constituency. "Hundreds of BJP leaders and workers have gathered at Hotel Palm, Station Road, Mainpuri and are continuously distributing liquor and money. Election Commission should take cognisance of the matter,” she wrote in a tweet in Hindi.However, the BJP is confident it will win the Mainpuri seat.What are the other contests in UP?By-polls are being held in Rampur Sadar and Khatauli, which were necessitated after the disqualification of Samajwadi Party MLA Azam Khan and BJP MLA Vikram Singh Saini following their conviction. Azam Khan got a three-year jail term in a hate speech case in 2019 and Vikram Saini was convicted in a riots case in Muzaffarnagar.In Rampur Sadar, the BJP has fielded Akash Saxena, who is the son of former party MLA Shiv Bahadur Saxena, against senior SP leader Azam Khan’s protege Asim Raja, while in Khatauli, the fight is between Vikram Singh Saini’s wife Rajkumari Saini and Madan Bhaiya from the Rashtriya Lok Dal.The outcomes of the by-polls will not affect the Centre or the state governments as the BJP enjoys a comfortable majority at both levels. However, the victories will give a psychological advantage to the winners ahead of the big 2024 general elections.With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.