The Socialists
The story of other regional partes is not very different from AAP. They all started with a big personality with slogan to change the politics and with the promise of corruption free government but after a decade or so they exposed themselves. In Uttar Pradesh they call themselves 'Socialist' or the Samajwadi.
While the whole word called Jawaharlal Nehru as a socialist, he refused to put a tag on his government policy. He would openly admire Soviet Union for it's policies but would denounce that he follows the socialism. Notice two speeches by Nehru:
"….If I may say so, even Soviet Russia which seeks to base herself on a very hard and rigid theory of Marxism, interprets Marxism in a manner that suits her. The result is that her brand of Marxism has little to do with Marx. I am quite certain that Marx would be astonished if he were to see the various interpretations of his theory. Whether you approve of this or not is immaterial….."cxcivSee under Chapter "The Middle Way" Address at the annual meeting of the Indian Chemical Manufacturers'Association, New Delhi, December 26, 1950 published as "JAWAHARLAL NEHRU'S SPEECHES 1949-1953 (Vol. - II)".
"…..There may be differences of opinion about these problems but the question is how to solve them. We talk of Gandhivad and other vads or 'isms' but our chief defect is that we are more given to talking about things than to doing them. We seem to think that social and economic reforms can be achieved merely by resolutions or legislations…..."cxcvSee under Chapter "Dignity of Labour" translated from speech in Hindi at the inauguration of the Harijan Convention, Wardha, November 1, 1952 published as "JAWAHARLAL NEHRU'S SPEECHES 1949-1953 (Vol. - II)".
His smoking habit and consuming imported State Express 555 cigarette could therefore not be called as hypocrisy.cxcviOn a visit of Jawahar Lal Nehru to Bhopal, the Raj Bhavan staff realised that the favourite cigarette brand of Nehruji "555" was not available in the Raj Bhavan. Nehruji used to have a cigarette after his meals. The staff immediately sent a plane to Indore for air-lifting Nehruji's favourite pack, which was kept ready at the Indore airport. (See http://governor.mp.gov.in/Guvs_Anecdotes.aspx?fbclid=IwAR3UM94KE1-3I7p6S5YzNkXtM8XunRZB1Qb19CiJupc4KNmZXIozNJg5HM8 ) However those who followed Nehru and claimed to be socialists were not beyond the allegations of hypocrisy. But what it really means to be a socialist?
Hegel
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (Born August 27, 1770), a German thinker is considered to be the father of socialism. Hegel was the first philosopher who advocated a classless society. He emphasised on freedom or self-determination both as real and as having important ontological implications for soul or mind or divinity. But pause here and note that all the three words meant entirely different for west than for Indians. When Hegel was propounding, there was no democracy. Europe was feudal society. Rich had all the rights and poor had none. Women had no rights.
In 1945 when conference to create the United Nations Charter was held at San Francisco only eight female delegates attended the. The only which country sent two female delegates was Great BritaincxcviiSee https://unfoundation.org/blog/post/the-women-present-at-the-founding-of-the-un/ .
In 1947-50 when Constituent Assembly drafted Constitution of India, there were 15 women members. Hansa Mehta (a woman) was the Indian delegate on the UN Human Rights Commission in 1947–48, when she objected to the language of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which read "all men are created equal". Due to her objection it was changed to "all human beings are created equal".
The feudal class of rulers were abolished when Constitution was adopted and all were pronounced equal with right to equal opportunity and equality before state. Debate in India could only be about it's enforcement.
Hegel's socialism therefore must be read from the social situation prevailing at his time. It is a high time that utopian socialism is buried right next to the grave where Hegel is buried. Unfortunately progeny of Socialism i.e. Communism created more trouble in the world. But more about that, later.
One of the parties which wiped off Congress Party in the largest state of India (population 22 crore) namely Uttar Pradesh was Samajwadi Party which means Socialist Party.
Samajwadi Party
Sefai is perhaps most modern village in IndiacxcviiiSee https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saifai . It is village situated in Etawah district in the state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located 23 km towards North from District headquarters and nearest city Etawah. It is 32 km away from Mainpuri. It is about 110 km away from historic city of Taj Mahal, Agra and 230 km from State capital Lucknow, accessible through Yamuna Expressway.
Sefai has Govt. Schools, Girl Schools, CBSE affiliated school, Law College, Industrial Training Institute, Degree College, Sports College, Medical College, Sports Training Centre, Co-operative Management Training Institute, Farmer Training Institute and Medical Science University. It is establishing itself as a sports hub with more facilities.
No other village in India, has so much facilities at one place. It is well connected by train and Bus. Sefai has a large airstrip which can support landing of Airbus-300 too. Presently the airstrip is used by Air Force for trials and no commercial flights operate therefrom.
Mulayam Singh Yadav
What makes Sefai, a special village in Uttar Pradesh that it is birthplace and residence of Mulayam Singh Yadav. He started his career as a lecturer in nearby town Mainpuri and was an astute wrestler. His wrestling guru, Nathu Singh, impressed with him, vacated his own seatcxcixSee https://www.patrika.com/etawah-news/before-becoming-a-neta-ji-mulayam-singh-yadav-was-wrestler-1322504/ in the state legislature and introduced Yadav to politics from the Socialist Party in 1967. Unfortunately, the socialist stalwart Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia, died next year even though Yadav was elected to the state legislature of Uttar Pradesh. Yadav, thereafter showed his political astuteness in guessing the political wind right. He joined Bhartiya Kranti Dal which eventually became Bhartiya Lok Dal (BLD). In 1975 Indira Gandhi declared emergency and put Yadav in Jail for next 19 months.
In 1977 BLD joined Janata Party and Yadav became a State Minister for Co-operatives in the State of Uttar Pradesh. Janata Party in the Centre formed a government under Morarji Desai. In 1980 Charan Singh the 'owner' of BLD pulled out of Janata Party and became Prime Minister with support of Congress. Yadav became the Chief of State Unit of Lok Dal and upon election to Legislative Council (upper house) of U.P. became leader of opposition.
The election of 1984 came as a jolt to opposition parties as the sympathy wave swept away most of opposition. To add to the problems, Charan Singh fell critically ill in 1986 and died in 1987 leading to splits in party with each regional satrap chipping away the supporters. In U.P. Lok Dal split into two factions. One headed by Ajit Singh son of Charan Singh, was called Lok Dal (A) and the faction headed by Yadav called Lok Dal(B).
The government of Rajiv Gandhi which had swept polls in 1984, came under severe cloud of charges of corruption. His own Finance Minister V.P.Singh resigned and formed a new party Janata Dal. Yadav was once again on the right side, and V.P. Singh formed the next Government with the support of BJP from out side. Lok Dal (B) was merged with Janata Dal.
Janata Dal too split and Rajiv did to Janata Dal what his mother had done to Janata Party, a decade ago. Chandra Shekhar became the next Prime Minister and Yadav followed him into Rashtriya Janata Dal, the new out fit. However before that could happen, Mulayam Singh Yadav became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh defying all odds of rival Ajit Singh.
In 1992 Samajwadi Party was founded by Mulayam Singh Yadav on 4th November and it was stated to be following socialist principles of Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia and Late Karpoori Thakur. The two stalwarts were appropriated to provide for the 'Hero factor' for the party. Thereafter, the fortunes of Congress Party which was always mainstream party in Uttar Pradesh declined, irreversibly.
After that there was no looking back. Yadav was a good learner of electoral politics and knew that far more than ideology. The electoral politics is about remaining in power to appropriate resources to fight elections. He started his journey by visiting village to village, paying special attention to the villages with more population of 'Ahir' or Yadav and thereby establishing a mass base in the population which would make him return to power three times as Chief Minister of most populous State of India.
One of the interesting but controversial decision of the Yadav was to discontinue use of English in the state and also in competitive examination calling it 'oppressor's language'. However Yadav'sown children continue to study in English medium schools and colleges overseas. His son Akhilesh who became Chief Minister in 2012 had studied in Australia.
None the less, switching to Hindi, spurted the use and development of Hindi and now most speakers of Hindi from Uttar Pradesh speak a pure form of Hindi which has lesser and lesser English/Urdu words. The credit does partially goes to Yadav.
Yadav's winning formula was simple and unsubtle. He would do anything for the Muslims and Yadav communities. These two groups constitute about 25% of population of Uttar Pradesh but in few constituency the demographic balance touches to 45%. In a trilateral contest, where only 60% people vote 25% of votes are sufficient to win. In other constituencies, SP would select a local leader of another caste or community, whose number would be added to 25% and victory is assured. This arrangement is called secular in India. To top it all was booth management by Mulayam's brother Shivpal, to ensure everything goes well.
Though, SP did have candidates from general public, it is essentially a family party. All it's members of Parliament are blood relatives. They are Mulayam Singh Yadav (self), Ram Gopal Yadav (brother), Dharmesh Yadav (Nephew), Dimple Yadav (daughter in law) etc.
Rags to Riches
In 2007 an old associate of Yadav described their childhood and it's abject poverty, in these words:
" Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav and I are born in rustic villages, we studied in schools without a blackboard, we didn't wear chappals (footwear) till we reached the city for higher studies. So, don'task me if I am afraid of Yadav or not. People who speak English fear taking on powerful people. We don't have fears because I don't have much to lose..."
This friend namely Vishwanath Chaturvedi, filed a petition in Supreme Court alleging that Yadav as alleged socialist had amassed wealth of 1000 crores, which was disproportionate to his known sources of income. Supreme Court ordered an enquiry by CBI but it's fate is not known. This is what Chaturvedi addressed to pressccSee https://www.rediff.com/news/2007/mar/06spec.htm :
"My contention is how a person who had declared properties worth Rs 79,000 in 1977 could have amassed properties worth millions without any known source of income to enable him to earn and save that kind of amount."
In 2017, Mulayam Singh Yadav was unceremoniously removed from the post of party president in a coup like management, by his son Akhilesh. This came after his brother Shiv Gopal Yadav, the booth management expert was expelled from party.
In 2017, Akhilesh went to poll without his father and lost. He won on 47 seats, its lowest tally since the party's inception in 1992.
While Mulayam declared his assets of 15 Crore, his son Akhilesh has 7 crore of assets, Daughter in law Dimple has assets worth 28 crores, cousin Ram Gopal Yadav has 10 crore, Ram Gopal's Son has another 10 crore, nephew Dharmendra has 10 crore grand nephew Tej Pratap has 4 crore and Shiv Pal Yadav has 6 Crore. These are the figures declared in their affidavits given to Election Commission.cciSee https://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/samajwadi-party-leadership-mulayam-singh-yadav-akhilesh-yadav-shivpal-yadav-uttar-pradesh-politics-family-feud-3048539/ Mulayam's second son Prateek drives in a Lamborghini worth 5 Crores and explains that he is a serious businessman who pays taxes on time.cciiWatch him in video https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/its-my-lamborghini-ill-drive-if-i-want-to-prateek-yadav-on-that-car-1657606
As per a report in Hindustan Times, the total income of 32 regional political parties in 2016-17 was Rs 321.03 crore, with the Samajwadi Party (SP) showing the highest amount of Rs 82.76 crore, says a report. However the link to this report disappeared without reason. A cached version of this page as on Nov. 18, 2018 can be accessed here.
Kleptocracy
Akhilaesh Yadav (son of Mulayam) as Chief Minister had passed a direction that every ex Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh shall be provided free accommodation for life!
Supreme Court struck down this law and directed all ex Chief Ministers to vacate the bungalows allotted to them. All vacated. Akhilesh Yadav too vacated but after vandalising it and stole the faucets too.cciiiSee https://www.jagran.com/news/national-up-ex-cm-akhilesh-yadav-vacate-banglow-it-was-totally-damage-except-one-place-jagran-special-18062758.html Later he appearedccivSee https://youtu.be/1EuYVNUB6OA in a press conference with a tap in his hand to answer the allegation that he had deliberately damaged the property out of frustration like a kid who spoils a game when he sees he is losing it. Waving a tap seemed to be arrogant acceptance of the kleptocracyccvArun Jaitley, the Finance Minister in BJP Government called entire opposition marred with scams as "Kleptocrat's Club". See https://www.timesnownews.com/videos/mirror-now/politics/arun-jaitley-slams-mamata-banerjee-calls-them-kleptocrats-club-that-aspires-to-capture-the-reigns-of-india/22742 . Has any one learned any lesson? Social media has nicknamed him 'Tonti Chor' or Tap Thief and google obliged by accepting it.
In neighbouring State of Bihar, there is a similar Yadav clan headed by Lalu Prasad Yadav who is presently lodged in prison to serve prison sentence (of two decades perhaps) on charges of corruption as Chief Minister. His 10th class pass son was made Dy. Chief Minister of State of Bihar when BJP lost to an alliance. The alliances were redrawn and junior Yadav was asked to vacate the Banglow but he persisted and challenged eviction in court. Lost in High Court, he appealed to Supreme Court and was represented by Abhishekh Manu Singhvi a Congress spokes person. Court dismissed the petition with cost (fine) of Rs. 50,000/- and quipped:
"..."What is this luxury of a petition? Are you deputy CM now?" Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi asked Yadav's lawyer, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi. CJI Gogoi was sitting alongside justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna on Friday. Yadav was deputy CM of Bihar under the grand alliance government led by chief minister Nitish Kumar. The RJD has since lost power in the state."ccviSee https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/supreme-court-orders-tejashwi-yadavto-vacate-govt-bungalow-for-deputy-cm-fines-him-rs-50000/articleshow/67896432.cms
When the Bangalow was vacated, it was allotted to the present Dy. Chief Minister, Sushil Modi, he refused to occupy as it was too luxuries to maintain.ccviiSee https://m.jagran.com/lite/bihar/patna-city-fancy-fitting-looks-like-seven-star-hotel-sushil-modi-impress-to-see-tejaswi-bungalow-18970258.html?__twitter_impression=true (Though this Modi is also from BJP, he is no relative of Prime Minister Modi)
In this background it was heartening to see that Shivraj Singh Chouhan the ex Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, who lost elections on December 11, 2018 had vacated his bangalow with in few days to shift to his old house where he was residing 13 years back.ccviiiNew video in Hindi : https://www.indiatvnews.com/video/politics/shivraj-singh-chouhan-vacates-cm-bungalow-shifts-to-new-house-494790
As regards Akhilesh's performance as Chief Minister is concerned, it was far from satisfactory and remained below par.ccixSee https://www.livemint.com/Politics/XhW7GrobjR4RRPeLfdscCN/Are-Akhilesh-Yadavs-claims-of-development-in-UP-correct.html His comment that "Economic experts say the magnitude of the global economic crisis at times is not felt in India because of strong (parallel) economy of black money" was received with ridicule.ccxSee https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/black-money-saves-economy-in-times-of-recession-akhilesh-yadav/articleshow/55433972.cms In 2019, the new year begun with CBI investigating the illegal mining during the tenure of Akhilesh resulting in huge loss to state exchequer.ccxiSee https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/ready-to-face-cbi-akhilesh-yadav-on-illegal-mining-case/articleshow/67406573.cms
Did Hegel meant this type of classless society? Is this classless at all? Creating a rich class out of ordinary people is Socialism? Not a single question is put to these socialists by any journalist, ever.
The contribution of these Yadav socialists to the development of India is immense. First they created thousands of millionaires from trading and contractor class from Yadav clan. Secondly their disdain for English and use of Hindi as a medium of governance resulted in it's promotion. Third: their misgovernance resulted in mass unemployment and the Hindi speaking people were forced to speak employment in other prosperous states, mostly as laborers or drivers. While they learned local language, they promoted Hindi and today, because of the hard working people of these states, Hindi is recognised in 100% of transport sector and 90% of towns over all India. What could not be achieved by governance was achieved by mis-governance. No wonder India is God'sown country.
Now that we have met socialists, let's meet saviours of downtrodden. Those who take responsibility of uplifting the Dalit or the oppressed caste in India.
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