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Mayawati in control from day one The Vidhan Sabha results may have sprung a surprise, but Chief Minister Mayawati's style of functioning is certainly not new to UP, this being her fourth tenure. She knows the State on her fingertips. >From day one, she cracked the whip. Even as the trends showed a clear lead for the BSP, the officers rushed to Ambedkar Park to clean and spruce up the sprawling campus. Overnight, the park got a face-lift. One visit to the park said it all. But Mayawati saw through the last-minute efforts. And, heads rolled. Perhaps, rightly so since she has to show results. Her decision to keep away from transfer-postings and hand over the job to her newly-appointed Cabinet Secretary has evoked a favourable response. This has sent a good signal since her predecessors usually spent a lot of time on transfer of officers. The transfers would now be streamlined and routed through the Civil Services Board. Mayawati's new team has also instilled confidence among the people as honesty and integrity were the main criteria in the placements. "The CM's Secretariat will now be more communicative and interactive," was the instant reaction. Sleepless in UP BSP's overwhelming majority has given sleepless nights to other parties. They are wondering what went wrong. The plight of Congress is the worst. All along the Vidhan Sabha elections, the Congress had maintained a distance with the BSP with senior party leaders stating that they would have nothing to do with Mayawati. However, the results triggered a somersault in their stance and the Congress leaders changed their tune to: "We are prepared to extend support to Mayawati to form the Government. But, the BSP did not need their support. These leaders are now cooling their heels trying to delve into the causes of defeat. As for the BJP, they are blaming each other for the humiliation at the hustings. The UP in charge of the party, Kalyan Singh, owned responsibility for the abject showing and quit from the post. As for Samajwadi Party, it could not gulp down the bitter truth. After blaming the Election Commission for its defeat, former Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav could only say: "We are just waiting and watching. Time will tell." The rivals may huff and puff but Mayawati is moving ahead. Winning over Maya With the BSP calling the shots, the Congress is now devising ways and means to be on the right side of Behenji. The reason is simple. The BSP will have a major chunk of votes and, therefore, play a decisive role in support of the Presidential candidate to be fielded by the Congress. No wonder Sonia Gandhi and her lieutenants have recently been trying to win over Behenji. Mayawati could not have found a more opportune moment than this for settling scores. A wag commented: "Isn't this the time to strike a deal with the Congress? It's a matter of simple give and take." This may be true. What to speak of the Congress, even the BJP needs the BSP's support for its candidate. The only difference is that it is no longer in any position to either give or take from the BSP. Sporting spirit Mulayam Singh was in for praises when he turned up for Mayawati's oath-taking ceremony. The refrain was: "It is very sporting of him to do so." Of course, the Congress leaders were also present. But the BJP was conspicuous by its absence. The saffron brigade insiders are obviously yet to recover from the defeat in this election.
