Raja Bhaiyya,wanted

To get him in the cabinet,Akhilesh Yadav has lowered the bar he set for himself

To get him in the cabinet,Akhilesh Yadav has lowered the bar he set for himself

It is always going to be tough for Akhilesh Yadav. Too many expectations ride on the new chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. He will reform the Samajwadi Party and modernise it,break UPs free fall and turn the state around. After all,Akhilesh is young and carries a clean slate,and didnt he say all the right things in the poll campaign? Yes,Akhileshs success in UP has touched off more optimism than is either realistic or reasonable. But even so,his decision to include in his cabinet Raghuraj Pratap Singh,aka Raja Bhaiyya,independent MLA from Pratapgarh and known history-sheeter who faces charges of abduction,dacoity and attempt to murder,is a disappointing reality check that has come too soon.

There are wider complicities for the rise and rise of men like Raja Bhaiyya in Uttar Pradesh. The space for those like him was opened up by the abdication of the political party and the state. Be it the dabang in Bihar or the bahubali of Uttar Pradesh,their appeal is made up of a mix of fear and favour in a setting where the people lose faith in the due process of law,where entitlement and patronage define social transactions. In Bihar,many of the pockets lost to the dabang are now being retrieved by a state undergoing an arduous process of renewal and revival. In UP,Akhileshs installation of Raja Bhaiyya only reinforces the old order he has promised to bury.

UP will not be rebuilt by symbols alone. It was important to keep D.P. Yadav out of the SPs list of candidates and to talk about laptops to send out the message that the SP would be a more aspirational,modern political force. But if symbols are not to crumble and die young,they must find echoes in the ministry,policy and programme. If Akhilesh cannot do it when his party has such a decisive majority,he will deepen popular cynicism.