Mayawati has political parties for breakfast these days. On Tuesday, she inducted the sole MLA of D P Yadav’s Rashtriya Parivartan Dal into BSP and made him a minister. With Mehboob Ali’s entry, BSP’s strength rises to 107 while Dal becomes extinct in the House. This is the second party that BSP has swallowed in as many weeks — last week, she made seven MLAs of the breakaway Congress group ministers and finished off that party. She is hungry for more. ‘‘MLAs not only in the Congress but also in the Samajwadi Party (over two dozen) are eager to join the BSP and become ministers. I will take the right decision at the right time,’’ said Mayawati soon after the swearing-in ceremony, the third in a fortnight. There are clear indications that Raj Bhawan is set to witness more. The three-member Apna Dal and a few single-member outfits are easy targets for poaching. The Chief Minister wants to ensure that nothing should be left to chance when a unified opposition has announced a no-confidence motion against her government during the Budget session of the Assembly. ‘‘With the recent reshuffles the coalition has been fortified,’’ said BJP leader and senior minister Lalji Tandon who along with Om Prakash Singh and Prem Lata Katiyar, both cabinet ministers, were present at the five-minute ceremony. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee who was in Kanpur on a personal visit, it is believed, has sent a strong signal to the BJP not to antagonise Mayawati. Vajpayee apparently snubbed state party chief Vinay Katiyar — who has been making strong statements against the her — when he asked him, ‘‘What is new today?’’ The immediate reaction to the PM’s signals were evident today. While Tandon and Singh did not attend the swearing-in last week, they made it a point to attend today’s function. When The Indian Express asked Katiyar about his proposed meeting with Advani on the Mayawati issue, he said: ‘‘I am going to New Delhi tomorrow but have got no invitation for a meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani so far.’’
