Maya146;s 145;subtle146; Hindutva

front-page analysis of the BSP8217;s victory in the UP elections, editor R. Balashankar is all praise for Mayawati and concedes that she took away a chunk of BJP8217;s votes, not the SP8217;s...

In the Organiser8217;s front-page analysis of the BSP8217;s victory in the UP elections, editor R. Balashankar is all praise for Mayawati and concedes that she took away a chunk of BJP8217;s votes, not the SP8217;s. Clearly disappointed with the BJP for letting the saffron brigade down, he writes: 8220;The BJP lost steam midway. Its campaign got stuck between half-hearted Hindutva and development governance.8221;

Mayawati, he claims, won because she appealed to the Hindus. According to him, 8220;For the first time in her political career Mayawati played a leveler and social harmoniser. Her campaign was largely Hindu centric. Arguably, of all the non-BJP politicians only Mayawati understood the dynamics of a united Hindu constituency.8221;

Although she did not openly play a Hindu card, 8220;but like Indira Gandhi, on an altogether different format in the eighties, Mayawati subtly advanced a soft Hindutva line, appealing to the so-called Manuwadis even as she told her bahujan samaj that their interest rested in a unified Hindu social order rather than artificially created barriers promoted by disparate interests to keep the society mutually suspicious.8221;

Myth of Muslim vote bank

If Mayawati is praised for her alleged soft Hindutva credentials, the Muslim voter also receives some left-handed compliments. In the same article, Balashankar writes that the myth of the Muslim vote bank was also busted in this election. The results prove 8220;Muslims too behave like the rest of the electorate in the country, they have their caste and religious divide, they are divided between Shias and Sunnis, as upper caste and Dalit, rich and poor, fanatic and liberal.8221;

Defeat of the 8220;communal Muslim card8221; and the failed attempts to get their support in name of the Danish cartoon controversy or Saddam or the Iranian Islamic bomb was a hopeful sign, says the article. It means 8220;the Indian Muslim has a political approach just as any other Indian8230; raising extra-territorial issues will not pay off.8221;

Shekhawat on Mahajan

As he gets ready to fight a presidential contest, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat will surely miss the 8220;consensual8221; skills of the late Pramod Mahajan. This was evident from the fulsome praise Shekhawat showered on the late BJP leader on his first death anniversary this month. A report quotes Shekhawat as saying, 8220;In this era of coalition, consensus among party workers is highly desirable and political differences should never come between personal relations. Pramod Mahajan was a dynamic and courageous man.8221;

But he said something more significant. 8220;According to Shri Shekhawat,8221; adds the report, 8220;Mahajan played a pivotal role in his election as vice president.8221; The VP was alluding to the fact that he got a lot more votes than the NDA commanded in the electoral college as a result of cross-voting, and Mahajan facilitated that.