It was in the winter of 2014, while visiting purana Lucknow, that I sensed a refreshing change. People across caste and religious lines were speaking positively about Akhilesh Yadav's policies. They were happy to have a young and dynamic leader in public office, one who was cognisant of the delicate intersection of caste, communalism and development. His policy of distributing laptops and bicycles to school-going boys and girls was very well received. My visits to Uttar Pradesh in 2015 and 2016 reiterated the same message to me

It was only after the 2017 UP state assembly election results that I realised my perception had gone terribly wrong. So far, I had only spoken to a handful of Muslims and social activists and not a diverse section of the state's population that cut across the cleavages of caste, class and gender.

Now I understand that people think about 'development' alongside religion and caste. A triangular contest between religion, caste and development best explains politics in Uttar Pradesh. In this context, Sunita Aron's book, Akhilesh Yadav: Winds of Change is an eye-opener for those who wish to understand the deep intricacies of politics in the state. A political biography of Akhilesh Yadav, the chief minister of UP from 2012 to 2017, the book unpacks the finer nuances of politics in the land of Ram.

Aron, a seasoned journalist, has travelled extensively across UP to narrate a number of fresh stories about the finer details of Akhilesh's family life. The book starts with the story of Mulayam Singh Yadav: a non-conformist, who opposed untouchability since his early days, dabbled in wrestling before diving into the quicksand of politics and admired his guru, Ram Manohar Lohia.

Also Read: Coalition with BSP Has Weakened SP: Mulayam Singh Yadav

Akhilesh, on the other hand, a fan of Amitabh Bachchan and Sylvester Stallone, is nicknamed Tipu after Tipu Sultan. The book also cites his reticence about his love-life with Dimple, who is from a Thakur caste in Uttarakhand, his ability to cook tehri (a kind of pulao), his knowledge of the names of more than 3,000 party workers and the fact that the poll bugle blows round-the-clock in Akhilesh’s personal life.

Capturing contradictions with a tinge of humour

In one chapter, Aron describes Etawah around independence, capturing the various contradictions. At one place she writes: "Once we even drove through a hut and I saw women cooking in one corner! I wondered if the house had a main door. Later, I was told the door had been broken to make a passage for VIP visitors!"

In another story, she describes the issue behind labelling different groups under a single term: "In the pre-Independence era it was tough for the district police chiefs to distinguish between a freedom fighter and a dacoit as both were called baghis (rebels)!

Peppered with such anecdotes, the book makes the journey of more than 500 pages less cumbersome than expected.

From Mulayam to Akhilesh: Changing times

The book also delves deep into the different, yet overlapping brands of politics practiced by both Mulayam and Akhilesh. While many consider Akhilesh to be modern, young and foreign-educated, Mulayam is regarded as an old, traditional and rustic patriarch. This perception, however, does not take into account the era that Mulayam served in, when ‘peasant castes’ had yet to have a voice in the corridors of power. 

Also Read: We Want to Fight BJP, Others Want to Build Their Party: Akhilesh Yadav on Congress

For instance, Mulayam's opposition to the English language is addressed by him in the book, during an interview to Aron, where he says, "I am not against the use of English language but against its dominance in official work."

In contrast, Akhilesh adopted a policy of distributing free laptops to students, keeping in mind that college education requires internet surfing amongst other things.

Corruption and the use of violence are two the prominent charges that Mulayam Singh Yadav had to face.

But as students of Sociology, we know what makes people resort to violence, and why the powerless are targeted on charges of corruption while the powerful legalise their unjust and corrupt actions. The works of Jeffrey Witsoe, an American anthropologist, bring out this disparity very neatly in the context of Bihar allegation about the dubious role that the vernacular media plays in the hands of the dominant Brahmanical castes.

Today when we see a majority of UP Muslims voting for the Samajwadi Party, it is because of Mulayam Singh’s commitment towards secularism. “The country is run by the Constitution and law, and not by faith. I said this in 1990 when attempts were made to attack Ayodhya,” said Mulayam. Akhilesh does not have to face these compulsions of ‘violence’ and ‘corruption’ like his father. But his attempt to lessen the momentum of those ‘animal spirits’ is described elaborately in the book.

Aron rebuts the argument of dynastic politics alleged against the father-son duo by citing an academic Mark R. Thompson who wrote about the larger context of Asian dynasties. Thompson refutes that this type of dynastic politics is a throwback to ‘age-old ways’, and argues that it functions by appealing to the notion of inherited charisma and helps in legitimising leadership and minimising organisational division.

Naseem-e-Sehar (morning breeze)

Aptly titled Winds of Change, Aron refers to all the alleys of the developmental initiatives undertaken by Akhilesh since he became CM in 2012. She writes about the scholarships for women in higher education, continuing the MoU inked during Mayawati regime for generating power, building an industrial town in the Noida-Dadri-Ghaziabad belt, signing an MoU with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for improving healthcare services, laying the foundation stone of a modern dairy plant in Lucknow district, among many others.

All these, however, fail to bedazzle Aron, as she is well aware of the fact that both social and economic developments go hand in hand. Yadav domination in the samajwadi (meaning socialist) politics is not only clearly evident but also one of the biggest challenges before Akhilesh.

Also Read: Politicking in Delhi: A Lesson From Uttar Pradesh

The challenge ahead

Laced with anecdotes, newspapers clips and scholarly works, Winds of Change successfully gives one a clear picture of Akhilesh’s life and policies. What I missed, however, was the absence of the citation of some of the latest anthropological works like that of Lucia Michelutti’s on the Yadavs of Meerut.

As I write this piece, my reading room is abuzz with the noise of people discussing the ‘grand alliance’ of SP with BSP. Most journalists and political scientists expect a comfortable victory for this mahagathbandhan. Can Akhilesh (and Mayawati) sail through these tumultuous times and tether the boat of UP to the bank of growth and prosperity for the toiling masses? The challenge is uphill, so I am keeping my fingers crossed.

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