This Week Uttar Pradesh: BJPs man is in charge

BJP general secretary Amit Shah seems to have infused new life into the UP unit of the party. In the past,party general secretaries

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BJPs man is in charge

BJP general secretary Amit Shah seems to have infused new life into the UP unit of the party. In the past,party general secretaries in charge of the state usually confined themselves to Lucknow. Shah,on the other hand,has been travelling across the state,meeting local leaders and cadres,sorting out policy confusion,and telling them what they can do to strengthen the party. He has told party leaders in Lucknow to travel at least 20 days every month to stay in touch with the cadres,and given them date-bound tasks. He has met leaders of the Sangh Parivars fraternal organsations and tried to strike a rapport with them. He has personally taken on the responsibility of rebuilding the party in the western and Awadh regions,and last week he visited Ayodhya and Gorakhpur. The result of his efforts is an upbeat mood in the party.

The Congress counterpart

AICC general secretary Madhusudan Mistry,said to have been personally picked up by Rahul Gandhi to manage Congress affairs in UP,seems to have lost some of the clout he had started with. Union Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma has been accusing state Congress leaders of having acted as the B team of the Samajwadi Party during the assembly elections. Congress leaders have complained to Mistry,who reportedly advised Verma to be careful with his remarks. Verma retaliated that no one can stop him from criticising Mulayam Singh Yadav,and did not attend office for a day. At this,Mistry was reportedly advised to go easy on Verma.

Maya among Brahmins

For the Lok Sabha elections,the BSP is trying to revive its favourite Brahmin-Dalit combine which had catapulted it to power in the state in 2007. Last week,the BSP organised a Brahmin rally in Lucknow where Mayawati was the main speaker. It was the culmination of a campaign of 30-odd Brahmin Bhaichara Sammelans organised across the state over the last two months. The responsibility of organising the campaign had been given to party general secretary Satish Chandra Mishra,the Brahmin face of the party. At the sammelans,Mishra explained how Brahmins accounting for 16 per cent of the population,by aligning with with Dalits 25 per cent,could help make Mayawati prime minister,and get a share in power in Delhi.

Mulayam among Muslims

Mulayam is out to please Muslim clerics. These days,they can get an appointment with him whenever they like,and he sorts out their grievances. Syed Ahmed Bukhari,the imam of Delhis Jama Masjid,had accused Mulayam and the state government of neglecting Muslims after his aide Waseem Ahmed Khan was removed as chairman of the UP Pollution Control Board. Twice recently,he met Mulayam and said the talks went well. Another cleric,Tauqeer Raza Khan of Bareilly,who had refused to accept the post of vice-chairman in the State Handloom Corporation unless an inquiry was ordered into all communal riots under the present state government,was satisfied after a meeting with Mulayam.