The year was 2007; April-May 2007 to be precise. India’s most populous State of Uttar Pradesh (UP); home to a sixth of India’s total populace, was abuzz with frenzied political activity with the UP Assembly elections just round the corner. The Samajwadi Party (SP) led by Mulayam Singh Yadav, who also happened to be the hitherto incumbent thirty-first Chief Minister, had already hit the campaign trail full throttle, with the now ‘infamous’ slogan of Amitabh Bachchan proudly roaring, UP mein dam hein, kyon ki jurm yahan kam hain, which in essence, was more of an obsequious endorsement of the so-called ‘performance’ (read abysmal performance), of the Mulayam Singh Yadav government on law and order front, rather than a statement that hardly smacked of any raw, realistic, responsible utterance. As regards Amitabh Bachchan’s closeness with the Samajwadi Party, especially, general secretary Amar Singh, the less said, the better. The political euphoria and cacophonic brouhaha vis-a-vis the Samajwadi Party’s campaign had already reached its zenith. A few overzealous psephologists had even predicted a victory for the Samajwadi Party in their so-called ‘detailed and dissected exit-polls’. But destiny, it seemed, had other plans! A surprise elegy; a political requiem!
Contrary to pre-poll predictions, Mulayam Singh Yadav’s dream of becoming the Chief Minister for a record fourth time came a cropper after the Samajwadi Party suffered a huge loss at the hands of their most potent rival, the Dalit-centred Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) led by his perennial bete noire, Kumari Mayawati, who went on to not only become the thirty-second Chief Minister, but had also achieved that crowning glory for a record fourth time. The entire gargantuan exercise of profusely glamourising the Samajwadi Party’s 2007 poll campaign with the likes of Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Prada seemed to have boomeranged hard on them, their fresh lime political tactics proved too tangy for the UP electorate. The BSP had won a majority, the first such majority by a single party since 1991 State Assembly elections; the last two decades were mostly dominated by various coalitions among the Samajwadi Party, Bharatiya Janata Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party. Mayawati had managed to successfully magnetise support from a plethora of communities, hitherto sidelined; Brahmins, Thakurs, Muslims, Other Backward Classes (OBC’s) et al had all voted for the first time for a Dalit party, partly because it (BSP) had offered seats to people from these variegated communities. In fact, the BSP’s unexpected majority status in 2007 Assembly elections was this very amalgamation of ‘priceless’ Brahmin votes into this Dalit-centred party, as opposed to the decades-old trend of deep-rooted electoral dichotomy in the state among Dalits, Upper Castes, Muslims and different OBC groups, which generally tend to vote in strictly isolated blocks. Mayawati had won 206 seats out of a total stipulated 403 in the State Assembly. She took the oath of office and secrecy as Chief Minister on May 13, 2007 from Governor TV Rajeswar. The ‘infamous’ slogan of Amitabh Bachchan was now gradually on the wane; it was now aptly replaced by a colourful slogan: Haathi nahin, Ganesh hain, Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh hain: The elephant (BSP’s symbol) is really the wise ‘Ganesh’, the Trinity of Gods rolled into one.
Thus the great pageant of the 2007 UP Assembly elections had once again catapulted the great behemoth-like Behenji (sister) figure of Mayawati into the very fabric of its overtly caste-ridden politics. This time though, Mayawati seemed to have grown much ‘wiser’, having had ample time to cool her heals, recuperate from her past lacerations and fling herself once again into the political arena with an even more potent sense of exuberant vindictiveness against her sulking adversaries. She immediately swung into action by suspending two IAS officers for non-performance alleging that they had failed to maintain the Ambedkar Park in Lucknow. It was widely believed that these officers were close to the erstwhile government of Mulayam Singh Yaday. She had also opened case files related to land deals of Amitabh Bachchan in Barabanki. This apart, she had launched a major crackdown to cleanse the entire UP police department, a move seen by her rivals as nurturing corruption by creating a team of obsequious minions who would operate under her personal diktats. The cretaceous bureaucratic mandarins in UP, for all its practical purposes, are not only quasi-redundant, but also meekly servile. This in itself was just ‘the begging of the end’; an end that had all the potentialities of profusely overflowing dictatorial ramifications. The sum-total of all her vindictive acts, were self-deprecating, to say the least. These indeed, were ominous omens.
Mayawati and her minions had hitherto been unleashing a terror-like reign, silencing all and sundry who had dared to raise even a whisper, nay a voice, against her. The recent incident of arresting Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee Chief, Rita Bahuguna Joshi, who had uttered certain derogatory remarks against Mayawati at a rally on July 15, 2009. at Moradabad, really smacked of Mayawati's vice-like grip upon the entire State machinery. Although, Rita Bahuguna Joshi’s remarks were totally against the very dignity of women, and were not at all justified. an act for which she had hastily apologised, but what was equally unjustified was the brazen alacrity to not only arrest her, but shamelessly incite a bunch of hare-brained BSP ruffians to force their way into her house in Lucknow, set a portion of it on fire vandalising property and vehicles. The brazenness shockingly doesn’t end here. The BSP leader, Intezaar Ahmad Abdi, who had allegedly ransacked Rita Bahuguna Joshi’s home, was rewarded with a plump post, by being appointed chairman of Ganna Sansthan (State sugar corporation). It was utter mockery of sane civil society, nothing else!
Mayawati remains a pugnacious personality in the convoluted realm of UP’s messy, rustic caste politics; predominantly an agrarian feudal State. Her brand of aggressive vindictive politics has even attracted worldwide attention of political observers. In an article in The New York Times, Amy Waldman, its Co-Bureau Chief in New Delhi, India, had wrote in 2003: “In a state where Dalits are nearly one quarter of the population, Mayawati has used caste as a mobiliser, building on a social and political revolution 50 years in the making. It is a phenomenon that has reshaped the politics of India”. But despite a long political career, Mayawati has had only a few achievements to her credit. A few brownie points could at least be appended to her political resume for having championed the cause of the hitherto ostracised Dalits like a self-styled 'caste-crusader’, though, her obsession to erect scores of statues of prominent Dalit leaders like Dr BR Ambedkar, her mentor Kanshi Ram, the founder of the BSP and even herself was a clear vindication of her hollow snobbery, nothing else! Mayawati wanted to project herself as a sibyl; a fairy Godmother, even a Cinderella among the Balits, but instead turned out to be somewhat like the scary Greek gorgon, Medusa; that too, in a state where a freedom fighter like Sucheta Kriplani became the first woman to be elected Chief Minister (October 2, 1963-March 13, 1967) of any Indian state. Mayawati’s UP, seems to be slowly but surely, transforming itself into an Ulta Pradesh, (topsy-turvy province), rather that her once acclaimed Uttam Pradesh (Excellent Province). Sadly, where political institutions are scrawny, politics in states like UP tend to be highly personalised; identity, rather than policy, takes centre-stage in Indian politics, more so in UP. Mayawati has only herself to blame for this. ASSAM TRIBUNE
Contrary to pre-poll predictions, Mulayam Singh Yadav’s dream of becoming the Chief Minister for a record fourth time came a cropper after the Samajwadi Party suffered a huge loss at the hands of their most potent rival, the Dalit-centred Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) led by his perennial bete noire, Kumari Mayawati, who went on to not only become the thirty-second Chief Minister, but had also achieved that crowning glory for a record fourth time. The entire gargantuan exercise of profusely glamourising the Samajwadi Party’s 2007 poll campaign with the likes of Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Prada seemed to have boomeranged hard on them, their fresh lime political tactics proved too tangy for the UP electorate. The BSP had won a majority, the first such majority by a single party since 1991 State Assembly elections; the last two decades were mostly dominated by various coalitions among the Samajwadi Party, Bharatiya Janata Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party. Mayawati had managed to successfully magnetise support from a plethora of communities, hitherto sidelined; Brahmins, Thakurs, Muslims, Other Backward Classes (OBC’s) et al had all voted for the first time for a Dalit party, partly because it (BSP) had offered seats to people from these variegated communities. In fact, the BSP’s unexpected majority status in 2007 Assembly elections was this very amalgamation of ‘priceless’ Brahmin votes into this Dalit-centred party, as opposed to the decades-old trend of deep-rooted electoral dichotomy in the state among Dalits, Upper Castes, Muslims and different OBC groups, which generally tend to vote in strictly isolated blocks. Mayawati had won 206 seats out of a total stipulated 403 in the State Assembly. She took the oath of office and secrecy as Chief Minister on May 13, 2007 from Governor TV Rajeswar. The ‘infamous’ slogan of Amitabh Bachchan was now gradually on the wane; it was now aptly replaced by a colourful slogan: Haathi nahin, Ganesh hain, Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh hain: The elephant (BSP’s symbol) is really the wise ‘Ganesh’, the Trinity of Gods rolled into one.
Thus the great pageant of the 2007 UP Assembly elections had once again catapulted the great behemoth-like Behenji (sister) figure of Mayawati into the very fabric of its overtly caste-ridden politics. This time though, Mayawati seemed to have grown much ‘wiser’, having had ample time to cool her heals, recuperate from her past lacerations and fling herself once again into the political arena with an even more potent sense of exuberant vindictiveness against her sulking adversaries. She immediately swung into action by suspending two IAS officers for non-performance alleging that they had failed to maintain the Ambedkar Park in Lucknow. It was widely believed that these officers were close to the erstwhile government of Mulayam Singh Yaday. She had also opened case files related to land deals of Amitabh Bachchan in Barabanki. This apart, she had launched a major crackdown to cleanse the entire UP police department, a move seen by her rivals as nurturing corruption by creating a team of obsequious minions who would operate under her personal diktats. The cretaceous bureaucratic mandarins in UP, for all its practical purposes, are not only quasi-redundant, but also meekly servile. This in itself was just ‘the begging of the end’; an end that had all the potentialities of profusely overflowing dictatorial ramifications. The sum-total of all her vindictive acts, were self-deprecating, to say the least. These indeed, were ominous omens.
Mayawati and her minions had hitherto been unleashing a terror-like reign, silencing all and sundry who had dared to raise even a whisper, nay a voice, against her. The recent incident of arresting Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee Chief, Rita Bahuguna Joshi, who had uttered certain derogatory remarks against Mayawati at a rally on July 15, 2009. at Moradabad, really smacked of Mayawati's vice-like grip upon the entire State machinery. Although, Rita Bahuguna Joshi’s remarks were totally against the very dignity of women, and were not at all justified. an act for which she had hastily apologised, but what was equally unjustified was the brazen alacrity to not only arrest her, but shamelessly incite a bunch of hare-brained BSP ruffians to force their way into her house in Lucknow, set a portion of it on fire vandalising property and vehicles. The brazenness shockingly doesn’t end here. The BSP leader, Intezaar Ahmad Abdi, who had allegedly ransacked Rita Bahuguna Joshi’s home, was rewarded with a plump post, by being appointed chairman of Ganna Sansthan (State sugar corporation). It was utter mockery of sane civil society, nothing else!
Mayawati remains a pugnacious personality in the convoluted realm of UP’s messy, rustic caste politics; predominantly an agrarian feudal State. Her brand of aggressive vindictive politics has even attracted worldwide attention of political observers. In an article in The New York Times, Amy Waldman, its Co-Bureau Chief in New Delhi, India, had wrote in 2003: “In a state where Dalits are nearly one quarter of the population, Mayawati has used caste as a mobiliser, building on a social and political revolution 50 years in the making. It is a phenomenon that has reshaped the politics of India”. But despite a long political career, Mayawati has had only a few achievements to her credit. A few brownie points could at least be appended to her political resume for having championed the cause of the hitherto ostracised Dalits like a self-styled 'caste-crusader’, though, her obsession to erect scores of statues of prominent Dalit leaders like Dr BR Ambedkar, her mentor Kanshi Ram, the founder of the BSP and even herself was a clear vindication of her hollow snobbery, nothing else! Mayawati wanted to project herself as a sibyl; a fairy Godmother, even a Cinderella among the Balits, but instead turned out to be somewhat like the scary Greek gorgon, Medusa; that too, in a state where a freedom fighter like Sucheta Kriplani became the first woman to be elected Chief Minister (October 2, 1963-March 13, 1967) of any Indian state. Mayawati’s UP, seems to be slowly but surely, transforming itself into an Ulta Pradesh, (topsy-turvy province), rather that her once acclaimed Uttam Pradesh (Excellent Province). Sadly, where political institutions are scrawny, politics in states like UP tend to be highly personalised; identity, rather than policy, takes centre-stage in Indian politics, more so in UP. Mayawati has only herself to blame for this. ASSAM TRIBUNE
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