Flashback: When Mukhtar Ansari Merged His Party With SP But Akhilesh Yadav Refused To Accept It

Akhilesh Yadav visited Mukhtar Ansari's family in Ghazipur, yesterday, 7 April to offer his condolences. However, there was a time — barely eight years ago — when Akhilesh Yadav had refused to accept Ansari and his siblings in the Samajwadi Party.

Akhilesh Yadav at 'Phatak'

The mansion of the Ansaris in Mohammadabad, Ghazipur, is known as Phatak, literally 'large gate'. Yadav was received at the gate of Phatak by Mukhtar's brother Afzal and son, Umar.

Calling Mukhtar Ansari's death "shocking," Yadav said that "even more shocking" is the fact that this happened after Ansari himself said that he is being poisoned.

Speaking to the media while at the Ansari's home, Yadav said: "In this time of sorrow, I am meeting with the family members. The family's grief and the incident that occurred were shocking for everyone. Mukhtar himself said that he was being poisoned... We hope that the government will bring out the truth. He has been elected as an MLA so many times. When a person has been in jail for so many years and still wins the public's support, it means that the family and that person have shared the pain of the people."

Referring to Brigadier Usman, Yadav said, "Did Ansari's grandfather not have any role to play during the freedom struggle? The government wants to hide these things."

He added, "This family is still involved in the welfare of the poor. This is why thousands of people gathered here and gave a message to the family that they stand with them in these times."

Yadav targeted the ruling government for custodial death and said, "How can we accept that this was a natural death?... Even in Russia, the leader of the opposition was poisoned and killed inside jail..."

Yadav even made an oblique reference to a report in The Guardian to question the Uttar Pradesh government on Mukhtar's death: "We are seeing allegations of murder on the BJP government in foreign lands. So what is wrong if the [Uttar Pradesh] government is questioned on his death?"

Eight Years Ago

While Akhilesh Yadav praised Mukhtar Ansari as a popular leader yesterday, there was a time in 2016 when he made sure that the Samajwadi Party (SP) had nothing to do with the Ansaris.

In June 2016, the Quami Ekta Dal (QED) of Mukhtar Ansari had announced its merger with the Samajwadi Party. This merger was reportedly supervised by Akhilesh's uncle and senior SP leader, Shivpal Yadav. Akhilesh Yadav, then the chief minister, refused to accept the merger and it was called off. Yadav even went on to say: "Mukhtar Ansari will not be welcome in the party. We don't want such people in the party."

Not only that, he even sacked Education Minister Balram Yadav for his alleged role in the merger, though he was later reinstated in the cabinet.

The 2017 assembly elections were approaching then and Akhilesh's message to the SP cadre was that "If party workers perform their responsibilities, then there will be no need for another party."

This was also the phase when Akhilesh Yadav was battling perceptions of the UP government and the Samajwadi Party being hand-in-glove with criminal elements of the state.

UP-watchers say that Akhilesh Yadav correctly realised the damage a merger with Ansari's QED could do to the image of the CM and his party. It was thus electoral consideration which forced Akhilesh Yadav to keep a distance from the Ansaris.

And it is electoral consideration yet again that is said to have taken him to Ansaris' home. Riding on the support of near-total consolidation of the minority votes behind him, Akhilesh Yadav delivered a lifetime-high vote share of 32 per cent plus for the SP in the 2022 elections.

However, since then, multiple reports have emerged which suggest that the minority community is not too pleased with the SP.

To add to the Yadav's woes, his allies, Jayant Choudhary and Om Prakash Rajbhar have led their respective parties into the NDA. A third ally, Krishna Patel of Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) has also left the SP-led alliance.

To add to it, Asaduddin Owaisi of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has been trying to plant his party's organisation in UP for some time now.

In such a scenario, it becomes critical for Yadav to hold on to the support of the minority community. His visit to the Ansari's house is thus seen as a signal to the voting block whose support is necessary for the SP to survive.