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All Is Maya, Maya Is All

The state BJP faces serious attrition due to a 'one-sided' alliance

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All Is Maya, Maya Is All
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For the BJP in UP, it's Catch-22. Last week's by-election results and subsequent political developments have left its cadre frustrated. For, even though it's a coalition partner in Lucknow, it's hardly tasted the fruits of power and governance. Reason: an aggressive Mayawati refuses to share the cake. "She cares a damn. If leaders at the Centre do not learn their lessons, they can forget the BJP in UP," says a BJP leader.

It was a disheartened state unit that campaigned for the by-elections in Gauriganj and Haidergarh in the crucial central UP belt. The BJP finished a poor third. Haidergarh has been the electoral citadel of ex-CM Rajnath Singh, a BJP heavyweight and currently a Rajya Sabha member. Rajnath, despite being a bitter opponent of the BJP's alliance with Mayawati, had to try really hard to retain his support base.

Says BJP activist Ram Ghulam Tiwari: "We know that Rajnath Singh has no say these days. So, in spite of our love for him, we decided to vote otherwise." Meerut mlc Rajkumar Tyagi, though, still feels the former state BJP chief is indispensable. Says he: "We need a grassroots man like Rajnath." However, a "disappointed and hurt" Rajnath—in view of the adamant resolve on the part of the BJP top brass to tail after Mayawati till the 2004 general elections—prefers to remain non-committal. Says BJP general secretary Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi: "There is a bit of disappointment among the MLAs, but things will be sorted out."

Naqvi is, of course, downplaying the crisis. Political analysts are convinced party leaders in Delhi have ignored local sentiments and the BJP seems to be going the Congress way, of steady extinction, in UP. If it ends its marriage with the BSP, it would stand accused of being an unstable ally, but if it continues with Mayawati, its votebank could be badly eroded—the discontented upper castes are already looking for a stronger force that can lobby for their interests.

The by-election results only reflect the tenuous BJP-BSP relationship. While Mayawati was agreeable to give up the Haidergarh seat if the BJP refrained from contesting Gauriganj, the two ultimately engaged in 'friendly' contests because of the extreme pressure mounted by some BJP MLAs who want to get out of the alliance, come what may.

These results have also underscored the resentment among the Thakurs of the state. With Raja Bhaiyya still in custody under pota, the state BJP has just about held its fire under central directives. Mulayam had no such compulsions, though. He fervently campaigned in Haidergarh using the invocation of pota against Raja Bhaiyya as a poll plank and promised that if he came to power, pota would be invoked against Mayawati. The BJP cadre fell for the SP bait.

UP BJP chief Vinay Katiyar admits that more homework needs to be done at the grassroots level. Besides, the party has a not-so-hidden agenda up its sleeve—the Ayodhya issue is hotting up once again.

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