New Delhi, Jan. 14: Rahul Gandhi is not the only heir apparent making huge strides in the Uttar Pradesh poll battlefield. Two others are snapping at his heels: Mulayam Singh Yadav's son Akhilesh and Ajit Singh's son Jayant.
Sources said although Sonia Gandhi is the undisputed national leader of the Congress, it was Rahul who had the last word in matters relating to Uttar Pradesh.
Likewise, Akhilesh and Jayant are learnt to have virtually begun calling the shots in the state, though Mulayam and Ajit still head the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) on paper.
When RLD general secretary Anuradha Choudhary switched to the Samajwadi in Lucknow along with former MP Shahid Siddiqui on January 8, it came as a shock to those who have known how close she was to Ajit.
Akhilesh was believed to be the reason for Anuradha ending her over one-and-a- half decade association with Ajit.
Sources said Anuradha wanted a berth in the Union ministry along with Ajit, who was recently inducted as civil aviation minister after he struck a poll pact with the Congress. Ajit was not against the idea but had to give in when Jayant opposed it, the sources said.
Since the RLD has five MPs, it is technically entitled to a minister of state berth apart from Ajit's cabinet post.
The sources said Jayant did not like the importance Anuradha enjoyed in the party because of her proximity to his father. So he used the opportunity to drive her out.
Anuradha invoked the name of former Prime Minister and Ajit's father Chaudhary Charan Singh to justify her defection. "Chaudhary Charan Singh remained anti-Congress all his life, and we cannot compromise on our principles."
Mulayam's son Akhilesh recently stamped his authority on Samajwadi affairs in Uttar Pradesh when he got senior MP Mohan Singh sacked as party spokesperson for defying his wish, sources said.
Akhilesh had categorically ruled out the induction of don-turned-MP D.P. Yadav into the Samajwadi while speaking to the media recently. But a day later, Mohan pushed his induction. So Akhilesh got him sacked.
Sources said Shivpal Singh Yadav, Mulayam's nephew and Uttar Pradesh leader of Opposition, and Azam Khan, the party's powerful Muslim face, was for bringing D.P. Yadav into the party. But Akhilesh ensured that he was kept out.
Like Rahul, Akhilesh has been leading his party's campaign in the heartland. He has undertaken a rath yatra to project himself as the new Samajwadi boss. Although Mulayam has not declared him the chief minister candidate yet, sources said he was the new boss of the party.
Clad in khadi kurta and pyjama like the babalog brigade of the Congress, Akhilesh and Jayant are foreign-educated heirs gearing up to become regional satraps like their fathers.
Akhilesh is a graduate in environmental engineering from Sydney University. Jayant is an MSc (accounts and finance) from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
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