(In a lighter vein)

By Vincent Van Ross

“The whole world is a Maya!” that is an old adage. “Maya can change anything!” This is the new refrain after what happened in the last assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. Against all odds, that marked the homecoming of a single party rule in Uttar Pradesh after 14 years of vanvaas in coalition politics. That also marked the beginning of the fourth term of Mayawati as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.

At least a couple of parallels can be drawn between Mayawati and Indira Gandhi. During the emergency period, Indira was depicted by a cartoonist as someone who rode the tiger. Maya rides an elephant. Now, elephant is an amazing animal. It is the lord of the jungle. It is also the election symbol of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) of Mayawati. Every living being makes way for the elephant wherever he goes swinging his trunk.

She has captured Uttar Pradesh. The other states and union territories had better watch out. She has her sight set on the rest of India! The elephant has a royal gait on the plains. There is perhaps no other animal more surefooted on the hills than the elephant. Who knows, if the hills of Uttar Pradesh had not become Uttaranchal, the power of the elephant might have been felt there too. In any case, the Uttaranchal chief minister is not doing too well these days!

“India is Indira and Indira is India.” This slogan was coined in by Deva Kant Barooah in the peak of the emergency days. Not much has been heard of him after that. But, he has left this queer quote behind for posterity to ponder over.

Now, Mayawati may not be India. But, she is certainly BSP (the whole-sole-in-charge of Bahujan Samaj Party). By extension of Barooah’s slogan, she is also Uttar Pradesh! She may not be India yet. But, she is trying to get there. Remember what she said at the Lucknow rally recently? She said: Why can’t a daughter of a dalit (backward caste) who could become the chief minister of the most populated state four times become the prime minister of India?

Is that some kind of a challenge to Man Mohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi? Or, does it extend to Lal Krishna Advani and all the others who consider themselves as prime ministers-in-waiting? And,…why not? She had every chance of becoming the prime minister if the United Progressive Alliance had not won the confidence vote. She was being projected as a prime ministerial candidate by the third front. And, she had the support of the left front as well. That sent jitters through Advani and a whole lot of other leaders who secretly nurture the desire to become India’s prime minister one day.

By virtue of being at the helm of affairs of an important state of the Hindi belt, Mayawati has become a force to reckon with in national politics. She has changed the face of politics in Uttar Pradesh. Her role in the election of the incumbent President of India cannot be overlooked.

No political party in India was seriously concerned about the issues facing the downtrodden and the weaker sections of the society. The “Gareebi Hatao” (poverty alleviation) program of the Congress party did not go beyond election slogans. The BJP had other important issues to contend with. So, the Bahujan Samaj Party decided to champion the cause of the weaker sections of the society and created a niche for itself.

At first, the BSP fielded only dalit candidates. The only way to fight for the cause of the weaker sections was to empower the dalits by getting them elected to the seats of power. Once the dalits come to power, they can bring about policies which would ameliorate the injustice suffered by the weaker sections of the society. But, given the caste equations in Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati was quick to learn that a clear majority would be a distant dream if she stuck to dalit candidates.

The BSP rode the BMW (Brahmin, Muslim and Weaker Sections put together) this time.
The candidates were selected keeping in view the caste composition of each constituency. Thanks to her ingenuity, Mayawati romped home with a thumping majority.

This combination is nothing new. This is precisely what the Congress did during its glorious regime in Uttar Pradesh. Like Congress, Mayawati too has used this combination to great advantage. Only, she will use the strength of the upper caste Brahmins and Baniyas to work for the betterment of the weaker sections of the society.

I have always wondered why Uttar Pradesh is sometimes called Ulta Pradesh. But, after the last assembly elections, I am sure, I have company in the Samajwadi party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Congress party and scores of other parties and political observers when I brood over this. Like me, they must all be wondering how Mayawati managed an absolute majority in the assembly polls. Well, that is pure Maya Magic!

It is a different matter that Mulayam Singh coaxed himself into believing that it was the Election Commission and not the people of Uttar Pradesh who trounced his party though he managed a decent tally. Now, under the changed circumstances, the Samajwadi Party pins a lot of hope on its coalition with the UPA at the centre.

Surprisingly, Rajnath Singh, had the rug pulled from under his feet in his home state. He has no clue where he stands or how he got there. That must be reason enough for the BJP to prepare another CD for the next election. Only, next time the CD must be a Hindi Seedi which means ‘ladder’ to climb on to the seat of power and not a compact disc like last time! Sonia must still be wondering where all those huge turnouts at the road shows of Rahul and Priyanka evaporated into.

All said and done, the whole world is a Maya. And, Maya is short for Mayawati. All the political parties have to figure out how and where they fit into the World of Maya while she goes about riding her Haathi Mere Saathi with pomp and fanfare. Her next destination is Delhi. Her party has already made some inroads into Delhi and other states. So, watch out! The world of Maya has set off on an expansion course!