Why Rahul Gandhi Flopped, Akhilesh Yadav Didn't

It was the time the younger Yadav joined the bandwagon of the rough UP politics with a calculated effort to give a facelift to the various negative images attributed to SP. The first of his many challenges were to counter the deep-rooted notion of his party’s abhorrence of English and computers, and he says, “As someone educated abroad, I stand as proof that we are not against English. And we are distributing laptops, if you please,” writes Vidya Subrahmaniam from The Hindu.

While accepting his foreign educated status, Akhilesh has always maintained a boy-next-door charm and his home-grown boy image made him the favorite for the people of Uttar Pradesh. It’s where the younger Yadav takes a dig at the only other political son who mattered and said, “I can identify every single tree on this journey. Can Rahul Gandhi do that?” Though Akhilesh as an orator never set the house on fire, he has always been accessible, reached out to people with ease and mingled with them with a character that the youth could identify as their own. His socialistic rhetoric earned him the support of the majority of 1.49 crore new voters to whom the freebies like laptops and tablets made real sense.

He was made SP's UP president in June 2009 and he as its president, carved out a new strategy that changed the face of the party which was often termed to be a guardian of thugs. It was his greatest challenge – to wash away the ‘goondagardi’ image and he says, “We have suffered a lot because of the macho, muscleman image. And I'll not make the mistake of taking the party on that road again.” The Hindu article also detailed Akhilesh’ vision which he has stored in his mobile that read, ““It is time our political energies are focused away from the politics of personal attack and sharp-edged hostility … It is time for change and people will lead that change based on their hopes and aspirations. It is not a war cry. It is not an aggressive call for political revenge. It is a statement that sums up what the Samajwadi Party is - a vehicle of hope, of change, of the aspirations of everyone, from the farmers … to the teachers and government servants, to the college students who are the flag bearers of India's new tomorrow…”