Although Akhilesh Yadav got the blessings of his father Mulayam Singh Yadav and uncle Shivpal Yadav, they were not present at the convention. This was for the first time that Mulayam Singh Yadav, who founded the party in 1992, was not present in a national convention. Now it is for Akhilesh to have his father as mentor and show him all the respect that he deserves.

At the same time, he faces the difficult task of dealing with uncle Shivpal Yadav, who had been handling the party organization on behalf of his brother. Shivpal has a great following in and around Itawah and it is to be seen how Akhilesh wins over his uncle and his followers to work for the party. At present the close associates of Shivpal Yadav are not allowed to enter the party office.

Although Akhilesh Yadav announced at the Agra convention that his alliance with Congress is continuing even after the assembly polls, there have been no contacts with Rahul Gandhi or other alliance partners.

Congress, RLD, NCP and other smaller parties are now looking to Akhilesh Yadav to take the initiative to start the dialogue to form a morcha to take on the BJP, which emerged as a big force after getting 325 seats in the UP Assembly and 73 seats in the Lok Sabha. Akhilesh will have to launch talks with left parties as well as other like-minded parties.

The biggest challenge before Akhilesh is the 2019 Lok Sabha polls when he would face Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who would be the main face of his party. Even after winning 325 seats in the assembly, the BJP is not sitting idle and has taken the forthcoming elections more seriously than rivals. All the frontal organizations of Sangh Parivar are working overtime to be in touch with the masses.

Yogi Adityanath has become the main face of Hindutva forces and he is working according to the task assigned to him. BJP and the Sangh Parivar are raising the Ram temple issue in a different manner this time. The entire Yogi cabinet would be at Ayodhya on the occasion of Deepawali to ‘recreate’ the return of Lord Ram to the holy city after completing banwas. The entire town of Ayodhya will be illuminated and all the temples decorated. The occasion is likely to be used for the announcement of a plan, estimated to cost several hundred crores, for the development of Ayodhya. Daily trucks laden with stones are said to be reaching Ayodhya for the construction of the temple, with the Shia Waqf Board announcing its decision to leave the land for the temple.

This Hindutva card of Modi and Yogi will pose a major challenge to Akhilesh Yadav in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Another big challenge would be on how to expand the party in the other states to justify his position as the national president.

Akhilesh had participated in the anti-BJP rally at Patna, where Lalu Yadav projected him as a national leader, and now he will have to tour the entire nation to rebuild the party units in different states.

So each move by Akhilesh Yadav is being watched not only by BJP but also by the smaller parties looking for an alliance with his Samajwadi Party. (IPA Service)