Young and regressive

Akhilesh Yadavs graph is a reminder: youth is no guarantee of progressive politics or governance.

Akhilesh Yadavs graph is a reminder: youth is no guarantee of progressive politics or governance.

Akhilesh Yadavs term as Uttar Pradesh chief minister so far is an object lesson for those who believe in youthful leadership as inherently forward-looking. In fact,its action replay in UP. Communal violence has returned,after a lull of many years,and tensions between communities have once more taken on a dangerous edge. Security of life and property has again become the biggest Muslim issue,the Samajwadi Party is doing what it is long used to,and Maulana Mulayam is back in charge,calling emergency meetings of administration officials,addressing press conferences. The chief minister seems sidelined as Netaji takes centre stage. The senior Yadav has enjoyed de facto supremacy anyway,directing the new state governments actions according to his own political ambitions. This last year has been a rude reality check for all those who expected transformative governance from Akhilesh because he was young and seemingly energetic.

Political change demands a mix of many qualities. It requires the skills to mobilise popular energies,enthuse party workers and officials,pound through the grit in the system,work around the resistance. The willingness to take risks and follow through on ones agenda is not the prerogative of the young,and Akhilesh has been proving himself unequal to his challenges. He has continued to woo the SPs traditional bases,but with less finesse than his father,through inefficient welfare schemes and token gestures. He has failed to control his party workers interference with institutions of government. He is happy following a script he didnt author.

Young people are often perceived to be the flagbearers of the future,and Akhilesh spoke of computers,and English education things the SP was once loudly disapproving of. He spoke of untangling criminality and politics. But these announcements of intent were taken more seriously than they should have been. As it turns out,Akhilesh may not be the person to grasp,or lead,the change in UP,like Nitish Kumar has done in Bihar with a large measure of success. In other states,more and more incumbent governments are being rewarded and punished for their provision of bijli,sadak,paani,schools and jobs. UPs citizens have the same aspirations as those in other states,but its politics has not loosened itself from an older identity-centric idiom,to focus on the quality of governance. People may want change,but they have not found the man,or woman,to take charge of the moment.