Election results 2017: Why `UP ke ladke` failed against `outsider` PM Modi?

If it was a battle of prestige for PM Narendra Modi, the hard-fought electoral contest in Uttar Pradesh was also a big litmus test for Akhilesh Yadav – the young chief minister who had to face the wrath of his father as he fought against his uncle to gain control of his party.

It all started with the bitter struggle for power in the Yadav family, which some alleged was 'scripted' by Mulayam Singh Yadav to help his son Akhilesh beat the anti-incumbency factor, and even threatened to split the Samajwadi Party just ahead of the announcement of the poll schedule by the election commission in UP.

At the peak of the power struggle in the Yadav clan, Akhilesh rebelled against his father, who openly backed his brother Shivpal – seen as a corrupt and constant irritant in the young chief mister's big scheme of things.

However, as the power struggle intensified in Yadav family, people's support for Akhilesh Yadav also grew and he eventually emerged as the sole winner, gaining full control of the Samajwadi Party. Buoyed by the growing people's support and a favourable ruling by the poll panel in connection with a dispute over party symbol, Akhilesh became the main face of the party’s election campaign.

Soon after taking the reins of the party, Akhilesh forged an electoral alliance with Rahul Gandhi-led Congress, which was even more desperate to make a comeback in the state after 27 long years.

All this marked the rise of a young political leader, who finally decided to come out of the shadows of his father. What further worked in his favour was his image of a suave and soft-spoken leader with a clean record who is known to work with a no-nonsense attitude. His opposition to the merger of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari’s Quami Ekta Dal with the SP projected him as someone who wanted to break SP's image of a party of 'musclemen'.

Despite stiff resistance from his father and SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, Akhilesh overcame the initial hiccups and allotted nearly 100 seats to Congress – a decision which is now being called 'fatal' for his party.

Pictures of Akhilesh holding hands with Rahul and the two young leaders conducting several rallies and roadshows across UP with a tagline of 'kaam bolta hai', Akhilesh Yadav’s campaign focused on the work undertaken by the SP government in the past five years.

In the party manifesto and campaign posters, several welfare schemes of the Akhilesh government including the Samajwadi Pension scheme, Agra-Lucknow Expressway, Lucknow Metro, Laptop distribution scheme and UP-100 (ambulance service) were aggressively highlighted to woo UP voters.

The Congress, which did not have much to offer apart from helping the SP consolidate the minority vote, too depended on Akhilesh's charisma to revive its political fortunes. With his decision to take on a resurgent BJP led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a resilient Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Akhilesh had a Herculean task as he also faced a succession battle within his own family.

​ Ironically, Akhilesh and Rahul - the two young leaders who were projected as 'UP ke ladke' against an ''outsider'' PM Modi, miserably failed to feel the pulse of state's voters.

It is now being alleged that Akhilesh' decision to allot more than 100 seats to Congress seriously hampered the SP's poll prospects. Further, the bonding seen between Rahul and Akhilesh was not seen among the cadres of the two parties. There were murmurs in the Samajwadi camp over the seat sharing arrangement and this could have possibly led to some party members working against the leaders.

Since the day SP-Congress alliance was announced, comparisons were being made if it would be a success like the 'Mahagathbandhan' in Bihar. Akhilesh was even compared to Bihar's charismatic leader Nitish Kumar due to the development works undertaken by the SP government in UP. It was argued that the SP's tie-up with the Congress will help consolidate the Muslim vote and Rahul Gandhi will be able to attract upper castes to the alliance. The results, however, proved otherwise.

The traditional Congress votes were not transferred to the SP as much as it was expected.

The stunning results have proved that Akhilesh and Rahul still lack the charisma of Nitish and Lalu. While Lalu Yadav's RJD acted as a force-mutliplier and emerged as the single largest party, the Congress appears to have dragged the SP down in UP.

Also, the reverse polarisation of voters after PM Modi's 'Kabristan vs Shamshan' remarks and Amit Shah's 'KASAB' jibes further dealt a blow to the SP-Congress combine which failed to get the Muslims and OBC votes as much as it was expected.

Akhiesh might have missed the chance of creating history by becoming the first chief minister to get a second consecutive term in nearly three decades in Uttar Pradesh, his personal popularity remains intact.

The failure of SP-Congress alliance in UP will further embolden a resurgent BJP that it will have a smooth sail in the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections and more power in Rajya Sabha where Congress has blocked the passing of several key legislations.

As Akhilesh Yadav goes into introspection mode to assess the likely causes of the SP-Congress alliance' defeat, he is also likely to face a tough time after his party's humiliating defeat as his rivals in party led by his uncle Shivpal Yadav will certainly question his leadership ability now.