Running in the family - The Hindu Editorial with vocab - September 15, 2016
Akhilesh Yadav’s tussle with his “uncles” has been a consistent
feature of his tenure as
Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. But the rapid developments of this week could
mark the deepest fissure (narrow crack) in the ruling Samajwadi
Party. In the span of a few hours on Tuesday, tensions that have simmered ever since
Mr. Yadav came to power in early 2012 rose to a crescendo. Mr. Yadav shifted out the State Chief Secretary, Deepak
Singhal, who had been in the post for only two months, a man seen to be close
to Shivpal Singh Yadav, brother of his father and SP chief, Mulayam Singh
Yadav. In no time, the Chief Minister was replaced by Mr. Shivpal Yadav as the
party’s U.P. unit president. Thereafter, Mr. Akhilesh Yadav stripped (remove) his uncle of most of
the portfolios he held in the Cabinet. There the matter now rests, with party confabulations (engage in conversation;
talk) with Mr. Mulayam Singh shifting to Delhi, and the young scion (वंशज) issuing
statements asserting his writ as Chief Minister of U.P. How this realigns the SP’s lines of authority,
and eventually shapes its campaign for the Assembly elections, depends on what
gives in the family feud.
The Chief Minister and his “uncles” have made moves and
counter-offensives on a crowded chessboard these past years, with Mr. Mulayam
Singh keeping the ultimate command in his own hands. The Opposition, for its
part, never loses the opportunity to highlight how the Chief Minister is
undermined by his “uncles”, those related by blood and those who exercise
authority by virtue of (because of) their long stint in the party — the allegation is
that in effect the State has four-and-a-half chief ministers. The result of
this tussle is that at every point of discord,
it is made evident that the Chief Minister does not hold enough sway over the party organisation — in turn, Mr.
Akhilesh Yadav loses no opportunity to
emphasise that his calling card in politics is clean, aspirational
governance that is focussed on development and law and order. In the run-up to
the State elections, he is seeking to foreground this image, and pushing back
on the discord with his uncles. A day before the Chief Secretary’s sacking, he dismissed two Ministers
caught in corruption charges, evidently without securing his father’s nod.
Earlier, he forced the revocation of a Shivpal-engineered merger of the Quami
Ekta Dal into the SP, on account of its criminal antecedents. Mr. Akhilesh Yadav could, in fact, pull this discord
to the party’s electoral advantage. He does not carry the burden of incumbency
issues, primarily the politics of patronage
and rent-seeking. But for this to happen he may have to force his father to
show his hand more unambiguously and
recover some control of the SP’s State unit.
tussle noun
(DISAGREEMENT)
a difficult disagreement or violent
argument
consistent /adjective (NOT
CHANGING)
always behaving or happening in a similar,
especially positive, way
simmer / verb - If a disagreement or negative
emotion simmers, it grows slowly stronger over a period of time and could
become more serious at any moment
crescendo / noun - increase in excitement, danger, or
action
scion /
noun- a young member of a rich and famous family
realign / verb - to put something into a new or
correct position
feud /
noun - an argument that has existed for a long time between two people
or groups, causing a lot of anger or violence
stint /
noun - a fixed or limited period of time spent doing a particular job or
activity
discord / noun
(DISAGREEMENT) - the state of not agreeing or sharing opinions
hold sway -idiom - to have power or a very strong influence
emphasize (UK usually emphasise)
/ verb - to show that something is very important or worth giving
attention to
sack /
verb - to remove someone from a job, usually because they
have done something wrong or badly, or sometimes as a way of saving the cost of
employing them
antecedent / noun / someone
or something existing or happening before, especially as the cause or origin of
something existing or happening later
patronage / noun - the support given to an
organization by someone
unambiguous / adjective - expressed in a way that makes
it completely clear what is meant
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