Now, behave

There is a larger message in the Election Commission8217;s well-timed announcement of the Uttar Pradesh assembly poll schedule. By unleashing the seven-phase calendar at the precise moment when it seemed the Congress would go against all countervailing forces, constitutional propriety and political sense and impose President8217;s rule on UP, the EC has reminded us that ours is a system of checks and balances. Now that elections are slotted only a month away and the model code of conduct is already in force, the subject should now turn to the magnificent challenge of conducting a free and fair poll in what is India8217;s politically most lively state. The onus is on the EC, of course. But the Mulayam Singh Yadav regime cannot escape its share of the responsibility.

For the EC, an impeccably credible election in UP will burnish its reputation of being an indomitable enforcer of the rules of the game, especially in cases where the incumbent regime is suspected of foul play. It was when the CPM returned to power in West Bengal under the severe vigil set up by the EC, for instance, that it could finally take on the long-running allegations of rigging 8212; 8216;scientific8217; and otherwise 8212; levelled against it. For the first time, sceptics and opponents were called upon to explain themselves, or at least fine-tune their argument. In Bihar, too, it was the EC8217;s scrupulous monitoring that became the biggest story of the election Lalu Prasad Yadav lost. Having set the stage by spreading polling over a month, the EC must now ensure that UP gets as spacious and as fair a political fight as is possible.

For the Mulayam Singh Yadav government, this is an opportunity to live up to. While the spectre of President8217;s Rule may have been waved away, Singh must know he is not off the hook. The regime he has presided over in UP has not exactly distinguished itself for its adherence to political propriety. He must not fool himself 8212; opposition to the Congress bid to dismiss his government cannot be construed as support for him or his government. UP will vote in a month8217;s time but the nation is already watching him.