The sari secret

In the Sherlock Holmes adventure, Silver Blaze, the mystery of the missing racehorse was compounded by the 8220;curious incident of the dog in the nighttime8221;. The dog, of course, 8220;did nothing in the nighttime8221;. A similar act of omission was the subtext of Lucknow8217;s sari distribution tragedy this past week. Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav8217;s muted reaction and refusal to attack rivals in the BJP 8212; responsible, even if tangentially, for the stampede that caused 22 women to die 8212; would have been explained away as dignified behaviour in normal times. In election season, however, good manners are not usually priority. In deciding to skip the option, Mulayam has only invited questions as to the exact nature of the Samajwadi Party8217;s relationship with the BJP. A secret courtship 8212; indeed, there was talk of it when Mulayam8217;s government was formed, in 2003, courtesy a cross-party Thakur MLAs8217; alliance facilitated by BJP functionaries 8212; may just have gone public.

At one level, a BJP-SP understanding makes eminent sense in Uttar Pradesh8217;s fractured polity. Mulayam8217;s principal aim in this election is to ensure the Congress remains an also-ran, that even the entry of Rahul Gandhi doesn8217;t make the party an attractive proposition for the Muslim vote. As for the BSP, its Dalit constituency is a traditional rival of the SP8217;s Yadav-Rajput combine. That aside, the chemistry between Mulayam and Mayawati is just terrible. As such, a covert arrangement between the SP and the BJP to squeeze out the two common enemies is perfectly likely. Politics has seen stranger things.

Even so, Mulayam8217;s ambitions certainly don8217;t end at the level of honorary bridesmaid. Should the BJP and the NDA fall short of expectations in this election, their first instinct would be to isolate the Congress-Left. In this situation Mulayam, given his old equations with the plethora of socialists in the NDA and new friendships with the BJP itself, may be the optimal pole for that never-failing slogan, anti-Congressism. It8217;s a speculative if quintessentially Indian rigmarole. This week it8217;s unintended beneficiary has been Lalji Tandon.