states politics
Teepu The Sultan!
Successful launch of Akhilesh’s rath yatra indicates about the end of Shivpal’s dream
By Asit Manohar
A
mid speculations of rift engulfed between the uncles
and nephew of the ruling party in Uttar Pradesh and
none of them paying heed to their patriarch Mulayam
Singh Yadav, Akhilesh Yadav’s rath yatra has reinforced
an old rule of Indian politics: In the end, Bairam Khan always
gets sidelined and Akbar gets to control his father’s legacy.
The UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav does not like being
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compared to Aurangzeb. Comparisons with a monarch, who
usurps the throne from his father and banishes him to a prison,
hurt him. But Akhilesh might not mind being his story being
compared to Akbar’s.
Like the Mughal emperor, Akhilesh whose pet name is Teepu
became a ruler at a young age, though in more fortuitous
circumstances. And, like Akbar, during the early years of his
government, Teepu too was dominated by his powerful regents
— whom he used to call uncle from his childhood and like Akbar,