Nurturing hopes of cornering a big chunk of Lok Sabha seats from Uttar Pradesh in alliance with one time arch rival BSP, Samajwadi Party (SP) President Akhilesh Yadav not only suffered his worst drubbing in the LS polls but also saw his family's 'political stock' decline sharply owing mainly to the bitter family feud and the 'Modi wave'.
As many as five members of the Yadav family, including Akhilesh, SP patron Mulayam Singh Yadav, Akhilesh's wife Dimple Yadav and their two nephews - Dharmendra Yadav and Akshoy Yadav - had successfully thwarted the 'Modi magic' in 2014 and held their forts.
In the recently-concluded LS polls, however, three members of the family, including Dimple, Dharmendra and Akshoy, were humbled on their home turf. Only Mulayam and Akhilesh managed to win their seats.
While the defeat of Dimple and Dharmendra was attributed to the 'Modi wave', it was his own uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav who proved to Akshoy's undoing in the latter's home turf of Ferozabad.
Shivpal, who had been having a running feud with his cousin Ram Gopal Yadav and Akhilesh, had vowed to ensure the defeat of Akshoy, Ram Gopal's son, and contested from Ferozabad.
On a seat where the Yadavs formed around 30 per cent of the electorate, Shivpal managed to secure 91,000 votes. Incidentally, Akshoy, a sitting MP, lost to BJP by only 30,000 votes.
''It was a prestige fight for Shivpal, who wanted to teach Ram Gopal a lesson for conspiring against him and getting him ousted from the SP. He has succeeded in exacting revenge,'' said a Shivpal aide here.