Six months on, Maya cornered by emerging politics

The Opposition in Uttar Pradesh has come out of hibernation and is gearing up to corner...

The Opposition in Uttar Pradesh has come out of hibernation and is gearing up to corner the BSP Government led by Chief Minister Mayawati. If the Samajwadi Party (SP), the largest opposition party, is focussing on issues concerning students and traders, the BJP has been targeting the ruling party on the Chief Minister’s pet Ganga Expressway project.

The Congress, which initially displayed a bend towards the BSP, has also drifted away. The drift started after Rahul Gandhi, during his visit to Bundelkhand in December, alleged that the state had failed to utilise Central funds. Mayawati retaliated by blaming the Congress for neglecting Bundelkhand. Threatening to withdraw her support to the UPA, Mayawati had said “the Congress was perturbed by BSP’s rise and was therefore harassing me”.

The sudden change in UP’s politics came about after the BJP trounced the opposition in Gujarat and the BSP managed to register its presence contrary to Congress’s calculations. “We were confident of winning in Gujarat. But the setback has forced us to introspect our position in the coming Parliament polls and change strategy accordingly,” admitted a Congress leader.

In an attempt to regain its foothold in UP, the Congress is preparing an intensive agitation against the Mayawati Government with its Hisaab Maango Abhiyan in February. “We will confront Mayawati; she is most welcome to withdraw support,” said Digvijay Singh, the party in-charge of UP.

Meanwhile, elated with Gujarat results, the BJP leaders are trying to rope Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to open a new front against Mayawati. “Our victory in Gujarat and Himachal has given a positive message to the people as well as our party workers. We want to use the opportunity in our favour in UP, especially since the Government has failed on all fronts,” said state BJP chief Ramapati Ram Tripathi.

But, Mayawati has caught the BJP off guard by recommending a CBI inquiry into the release of a communally sensitive CD by the party before the Assembly elections.

But the CM’s troubles don’t end there. Her arch rival and SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav is winding up for the kill. “We had decided to give the Government six months to settle down. Now the time has come to expose its real face which is anti-poor, anti-student, anti-farmers, anti-traders and anti-people,” said the former CM.

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Last week, Mulayam asked SP national general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav to constitute Sangharsh Samitis at district and constituency levels to launch an intensive stir against the BSP rule. He is also sending party delegations to Bundelkhand to collect facts and figures to grill the Government when the Assembly session starts on February 8.

Even smaller parties like the Rashtriya Lok Dal and Janata Dal (United) are training their guns on the CM. RLD is holding a rally in Bundelkhand in mid-February in which national president Ajit Singh will emphasise on their demand to make Bundelkhand a separate state, said state general secretary Anil Dubey. JD(U) national president Sharad Yadav too has voiced his party’s demand for Bundelkhand. Yadav has also blamed the CM for “playing politics” in the name of Dalits.

As if the opposition attack was not enough, the BSP is also struggling with internal feuds. Six of its 19 MPs have been disqualified by the Speaker, weakening the party’s stature at the Centre, even as Mulayam continues to enjoy a comfortable position in the House with 37 MPs.