‘Reformed’ party vs the one & only

On the same day,at an impressive rally in Moradabad town,Mayawati exhorts the crowd to go to the polling booth on March 3,come what may,in spite of “a storm,rain,cold,a wedding…” Reading from her prepared script,she asks them to disbelieve the virodhi takatein or opposition forces in which she includes the media. She meticulously lists the work her government did and what it couldn’t do due to the allegedly obstructionist Congress-led Centre because of which,she says,she had to seek partnerships with the private sector.

In the end,as the BSP’s candidates line up on stage to wave to the crowd,she says: “You may be angry with your local candidates. But ignore them. Remember,none of them is going to be chief minister. You are voting for me,your behen and your beti,to be CM.”

While the SP is asking the voter to believe the party has learnt from its past mistakes,the BSP message is: party doesn’t matter,nor does the MLA,it’s only Mayawati.

The SP’s promise of a change of heart may or may not be believed in a state where memories of its alleged goonda raj are still fresh. But what is becoming evident is that in 2012,while the BSP’s “only Mayawati” pitch still reassures and enthuses her core constituency of Dalits,and within them the Jatavs,it is at odds with the party’s attempt to hold on to its “plus” or “sarvjan” vote.

To other caste and community groups that flocked to Mayawati in 2007 to oust Mulayam,giving her a majority,Mayawati had promised a share in power as a reason to stay with the BSP. Five years later,one of the major reasons for their visible alienation from the party appears to be this: BSP rule,goes the refrain,has been the rule of,by and for Behenji’s own. While there were MLAs and ministers from other castes in her government,they say,they were given scant power to represent or to rule.

Travel through Moradabad and the adjoining district of JP Nagar and it would seem that while there are many concerns that divide the voters,the division is also between Dalits and the Rest. This is a belt with a significant Muslim population,traditionally an SP stronghold,where the BJP wrests some seats because of Hindu-Muslim polarisation coupled with a division in the Muslim vote. In 2007,in the anti-Mulayam wave,the BSP did well in these parts,winning six of nine seats in Moradabad. Its position seems precarious now.

In Kaanth,they say BSP MLA Haji Rizwan has a standard line for his constituents. “If anyone goes to him with a problem or demand,he will say,‘apne star pe baat kar lo’ (sort it out at your level),” says Dr Zakir Siddiqui,who was with the SP and is now campaigning for the Peace Party that is making its Assembly poll debut,a sign of the roiling in these parts in what used to be known as the Muslim Vote.

In the angry group that gathers outside a cycle repair shop in the market,they explain why the BSP MLA says what he does: He is suggesting that we should bribe our way to get anything done,they say,and that he cannot do anything to help us. “In Mulayam’s time western UP had 500 thekedars (strongmen) the people could go to,to get their work done. In Mayawati’s time,there is only one. Now,the only recourse is to pay bribes to every official,” Jaivinder Singh Yadav draws a contrast between the two regimes.

The powerlessness of the local MLA is particularly stark in Kaanth,a densely populated tehsil that seethes with fundamental absences — the fire brigade has no vehicle and the PHC doesn’t have an ambulance. Electricity supply is far too inadequate and unpredictable for the main local industry of manufacturing bandages and readymade jeans.

“Mayawati has given tickets to Muslims only to divide and weaken Muslims,” says Aameer Ahmed who runs a manufacturing unit in Bhoor. “A Muslim may win on the BSP ticket,but he won’t have any power,” goes the campaign pitch of Shariq Iqbal,formerly with the SP,now the Peace Party’s candidate from Moradabad.

In Bilari,just outside the ground where Akhilesh Yadav held his rally,a group of Muslims complains about the BSP MLA who,they say,came to them only to take their vote. “This time,we will look at the candidate. He must be someone we can go to when we have work in the thana and the tehsil,” says Mohammad Rafi,advocate. “In Mayawati’s party,no MLA or MP matters,” he says.

It’s a different picture entirely in Salempur Majra,a Jatav village in JP Nagar district that was declared an Ambedkar village last year. Here,they count out the vikaas in behenji’s regime. Electricity lines were laid,toilets made and roads paved. A few “colonies” or homes too have been built. “Others (upper castes) are upset because the BSP protects the poor. In the BSP government,our FIRs get registered and the guilty are sent to jail,” says Nanhe Singh.

In this Jatav village,the local representative’s reticence doesn’t seem to matter. “I know wherever she is,Behenji is working for us. She doesn’t need to come to me,” says Ramvati.

Complete faith in their Behenji is echoed by several Jatavs in Mayawati’s audience at her rally in Moradabad’s Ram Lila grounds. “Sometimes her candidates fail her but Behenji can do no wrong,” insists Usha Devi,aanganwadi worker,one of the large number of women at Mayawati’s rally. Incidentally,while women make up a significant section of Mayawati’s audience,they are difficult to spot in SP rallies. “We don’t look at candidates,only at Behenji,” is the refrain.

But as the endgame begins in the battle for UP,the outcome may hinge on the crucial question the non-Dalit voter will carry with her into the polling booth: How credible is Mayawati’s slogan of “sarvjan sukhaya” and “sarvjan hitaya” (welfare of all castes and groups) given that the BSP government is seen to have centralised all power in a chosen few and the local people’s representative appears disempowered?