Mulayam at helm, UP BJP waits for place in the sun

Now the party — or at least that section of it which is not mourning the loss of power with all the loaves and fishes it brings — is hoping for a repeat of 1989-91. That was Mulayam Singh’s first spell in office when the BJP, riding the crest of the Ramjanmabhoomi movement, expanded its base throughout the state and won power on its own for the first time in India’s crucial state.

Veteran leader Kalraj Mishra cannot disguise his nostalgia laced with hope. Speaking to The Indian Express this evening, Mishra maintained there was ‘‘no understanding’’ with the Samajwadi Party to install it in power. But, yes, he admitted, the BJP was losing ground under the Mayawati dispensation and its best bet today was to be in the Opposition. And yes, definitely, the BJP’s biggest issue would once again be Ayodhya.

‘‘You can call it a coincidence — when we first raised the Ramjanmabhoomi issue, Mulayam Singh was the chief minister. And today, when the ASI report has vindicated our case, Mulayam Singh will once again be in power,’’ said Mishra. The unstated assumption: Mulayam will once again play tough and the BJP will garner the long-dissipated ‘‘Hindu’’ vote.

Mishra, in typical RSS-speak, is quick to add that they don’t want any ‘‘confrontation’’ with Muslims over the Ram temple issue. ‘‘Now that the ASI report has confirmed the existence of a 10th century temple at the site, I am confident that Muslims will come forward and Hindus and Muslims will jointly construct the temple,’’ he says.

UP BJP president Vinay Katiyar holds out no such hope. In keeping with the central leadership’s ‘‘soft’’ line on Mulayam, Katiyar first states that ‘‘we are not going by Mulayam Singh’s past — if he does a good job, we will play the role of a constructive opposition.’’

But soon enough the mask slips. Ayodhya will be the big issue again, he insists, adding, ‘‘If Mulayam only listens to Muslims and not to Hindus, there will be problems. And I feel he will do exactly that. Unko safa bandhna kabhi accha nahin laga, turki topi pahanna hi accha laga (He has never tried to a tie a turban, he has always preferred the skull cap).’’

The truth is that many in the state BJP are hoping against hope that Mulayam dons the ‘‘turki topi’’ and thereby delivers the ‘‘Hindu’’ vote. A local leader confessed that ‘‘polarisation’’ was the surest way for the BJP to regain its lost base and no polarisation can take place unless Mulayam decides to aggressively champion the cause of the minorities and places hurdles in building the Ram temple.

For the central leadership, however, a mild Mulayam is a far better option for more than one reason. First, a friendly (or non-hostile) state government can help the BJP top guns who are embroiled in the Babri Masjid demolition case. Moreover, in their search for allies to prop up their rule in New Delhi, the BJP would like to keep alive the option of a tie-up with the SP in the post-Lok Sabha polls scenario.

One way of resolving the contradictory concerns of the central and the state BJP is to work out a deal with Mulayam, asking him to be ‘‘anti-Hindu’’ and take the Muslim vote while BJP reaps the so-called Hindu vote. At her press conference today, Mayawati claimed that this deal had already been struck. But that is far too cynical a ploy even by the Machiavellian standards of UP’s politics — and erroneously assumes that people can be manipulated like puppets.