http://www.asiantribune.com/?q=node/13865
Maya Wars Sat, 2008-10-25 01:07 By Allabaksh - Syndicate Features They may not have been anointed as 'Begums' but UP suddenly finds itself witnessing an interesting battle between the two leading women political figures Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Mayawati, the BSP supremo who is also the state's chief minister. The proximity of the polls in five states followed by Lok Sabha has made their war more interesting. The genesis of the fight is rather unusual: just before Sonia Gandhi was to land in Rae Bareli, her parliamentary constituency, the Maya government cancelled the land allotment for a big railway coach factory there because of alleged opposition from the farmers. The Congress has dubbed the action an act of revenge and political vendetta while Mayawati stoutly denies that charge. And in fact has since rolled back her cancellation. Whatever be the truth behind the controversy, on the face of it the reasons for the UP government's decision to disallow the project does smack of politics because there were no earlier reports of agitation by farmers whose land was reportedly acquired. But Mayawati's action could not really have come as a complete surprise. Relations between the Congress and the BSP have been plummeting--like the recent days downtrend of the Sensex--since around the time the ties between the UPA government and the Left parties snapped on account of differences over the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal. Regarding UP as its strongest base, the BSP has reasons to be unhappy to see the Congress and the Samajwadi Party, till recently regarded as UP's number one party, join hands. The coming together of the Congress and SP made no sense if the alliance was not forged to shake the foundation of the BSP in the state. It may be risky to guess at this stage if this alliance in UP will be in a position to cut the BSP down to size but Mayawati can barely afford to sleep well as long as her two main political foes continue to sup together and then go to the polls hand in hand. Mayawati is particularly annoyed over the alleged disproportionate asset case against her that the CBI has been pursuing. The pension benefits of the former director of the CBI, Vijay Shankar, an IPS officer of the UP cadre, have been reportedly withheld because he was the boss of the CBI till recently. Some of the income tax raids in UP, particularly on the premises of certain builders, were said to be connected to that case against her. That the Congress-Samajwadi talks on seat adjustments in UP are running into rough weather may offer a slight consolation to BSP supremo. But she cannot derive comfort from the tantrums that the Congress has to suffer from SP's showman Amar Singh who has also mastered the art of doing U-turns. She is convinced that the Congress-led UPA government at the centre is out to nail her on corruption charges and in this game the Samajwadi Party is aiding and abetting the government at the centre. The war between the two un-anointed 'Begums' of UP will, therefore, continue. But it is the Congress that will be on trial. It has received a rare opportunity to show that it exists in UP and has a fighting-fit cadre that can take on the challenge from the 'champion' party, BSP. If threats of going to jail in protest against Mayawati's policies turn out to be empty it will harm both Sonia Gandhi and the Congress, which has been trying for years to revive its fortunes in the largest state of the country. Despite Mayawati's allegations that the UPA government has done nothing for the state's development and her threat to 'expose' the Congress, she looks vulnerable at the moment. She does not seem very sure if her so-called social engineering will work wonders in UP at the time of the Lok Sabha polls. 'Atrocities' against Dalits remain unabated. And Uttar Pradesh remains one of the states where Dalits continue to carry human excreta 15 years after parliament had enacted legislation against this inhuman practice. (Bihar, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan are the other culprit states.) Mayawati's concern for misuse of land or its forcible acquisition looks misplaced. A lot of land, green areas among them, have been acquired in the state to fulfil her obsession with installation of her mentor Kanshi Ram's and her own statues all over. She refuses to see the discontent among the farmers, whose land was acquired to carry out some of her fancy projects, including Ganga and Yamuna expressways. UP's law and order problem had touched rock bottom during the previous regime headed by Samajwadi's Mulayam Singh. But can it be said that it has improved considerably under her? People in Delhi who are quite familiar with the problems of Noida and Greater Noida would tend to disagree. Mayawati denies that her government had disallowed a Sonia Gandhi rally on political considerations. She says if she was really keen on that she would have 'obliged' Sonia Gandhi and jailed her. But it is more likely that she did not want to arrest Congress chief because that could easily become an 'issue' that the latter could exploit. The Mayawati fan club among the chattering classes lauds her imperial but abrasive ways—resplendent with diamonds and travelling with a large entourage of well-armed men and building huge mansions from the money given to her as a 'token' of love and affection by her supporters—as demonstrative of the 'empowerment' of the Dalits. But there is also a chance that if she does not mend her ways she might soon be alienated from her core constituency, which needs to be uplifted both in social and economic terms in UP as well as the rest of the country. If she is looking for support among a wide spectrum in society she can barely afford to spend her energies in devising ways to 'avenge' her real or perceived humiliation that has come through 'false' cases. Cancelling projects that assure thousands of jobs will not get her more votes. The task before UP with its very low development indices is much greater than practising a policy of fear or revenge. - Asian Tribune - ------------------------------------ ---- INFORMATION OVERLOAD? Get all ZESTCaste mails sent out in a span of 24 hours in a single mail. Subscribe to the daily digest version by sending a blank mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], OR, if you have a Yahoo! 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