HVK Archives: Politicians play games, people pay the price
Politicians play games, people pay the price - The Asian Age
Seema Mustafa
()
19 October 1996
Title : Politicians play games, people pay the price
Author : Seema Mustafa
Publication : The Asian Age
Date : October 19, 1996
Uttar Pradesh, after an extended round of elections at
considerable cost to the exchequer (but of course no one
talks of that) is back under President's Rule. Nearly
10 days of sulks, threats, allegations, all coming under
the bracket of "hectic negotiations" has led to naught.
It has once again exposed (one wonders how many times it
is going to be so exposed) the political leadership for
being not just opportunistic but completely insensitive
to the demands of the constituency they claim to repre-
sent. The failure of the supposedly secular forces to
unite and present a stable government to the people
deserves to be condemned strongly. There can be no excuse
for the games played by BSP leaders Kanshi Ram and Maya-
wati who seemed to be carrying their campaign beyond a
point of Dalit concern. Ms Mayawati for chief minister
and no one, repeat no one, else. This statement by
Kanshi Ram effectively ruled out a compromise. Given the
deep seated animosity between the BSP and Samajwadi
leaders and workers it did not seem likely that either
would accept Ms Mayawati or Mr Mulayam Singh as the
alternative leader. But the workers would have settled
for a compromise which could not be worked out because of
the deliberate decision by Kanshi Ram to block it.
Another Dalit was not acceptable to the gentleman, only
Mayawati. It did begin to seem as if Kanshi Ram was
playing games other than those connected with the direct
formation of a government. It seemed impossible to make
sense out of his flip flop attitude during these days
when he insisted on being allowed to form the government,
contradicted himself by saying the BSP was not interested
in forming the government, issued a threat to the Con-
gress that he would review the BSP relationship with that
party, compromised by giving the Congress another day to
persuade the United Front to recognise Mayawati's claim
to the seat and finally has sat back donning the role of
martyr who has been discriminated against just because he
represents the poorest of the poor.
The Congress was equally interesting. It went on to
insist, even before the election results were known, that
the UF had no option but to support Mayawati for the
chief minister. Its new president Sitaram Kesri said
that he would review the Congress support to the UF
government at the Centre until and unless the Front
backed the BSP-Congress combine in the state. Eventually
when the front called its bluff, the Congress leader went
on the record to say that the matter of support to the
Front had been taken at the highest level and could be
recalled only by the "highest level." So despite trying
to be in the middle of the negotiations, the Congress
found itself really on the periphery with the BSP making
it a target for ridicule and the Front merely ignoring
its existence. The party will not be huddling together
at a meeting of the "highest body" to "determine its
future course of action." Of course, this could mean the
withdrawal of support at the Centre. Or so reporters are
being told.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has tried to stake its claim
to form the government but is very short of the magic
figure. It has not been able to inform the governor as
to how it hopes to fill the gap. Horse trading is not an
accepted constitutional practice as yet, although it is
an integral part of today's politics. Hence the BJP
could not satisfy the governor on this account, although
it was hoping to draw persons from the BSP and the Con-
gress once its path to power was cleared. To simply
recognise the claim of the single largest party can be a
dangerous precedent, until and unless, the party is able
to convince the governor or the President that it has the
necessary support from others to form the government. As
was the case when the Janata Dal staked its claim to form
the government in 1989. Otherwise the only recourse for
the political group would be to incite defections, splits
with money, bribes and other lucrative offers that simply
vitiate the atmosphere and further damage our polity.
But the question to be asked is why was there no other
alternative to President's Rule. The blame is squarely
on the shoulders of the United Front and the BSP. The
rigid positions adopted by the leaders of the BSP and the
Samajwadi Party (particularly towards the end) seems to
have made a mockery of the electoral process and com-
pletely negated the verdict reached by the people. The
failure to present an united secular option before the
elections was compounded by the abject failure to pres-
ent a united government. The people of Uttar Pradesh vote
in the hope that the two groups representing the empower-
ment of different sections would united to fight the
advent of the communal forces in the largest state of
India. Egos, petty differences were exaggerated to a
point where the deadline expired and the government
happily imposed President's Rule.
This decision will create more problems for the UF at the
Centre than it will solve. It will be seen, as indeed it
is, a direct interference in the people's verdict. No
section of the electorate is going to welcome the an-
nouncement as the state was in dire need of a good repre-
sentative government. It is going to strengthen the BJP
which has become an expert at wearing the mantle of a
"martyr."
One almost wonders whether it would not have been better
to rip off this cloak by inviting the BJP to form the
government, as the political. antics of trying to get
into the chair alone would have exposed this party for
being no less sanctimonious than the rest. After all the
party did emerge as the largest single party in the state
which means it still has a formidable constituency. It
is not going to rest on its laurels now and can be ex-
pected to whip up an emotive reaction among the people in
the state. This in effect will mean a major law and
order problem, the repercussions of which will be boo
directly, by the central government. The BSP and the
Congress, judging from their initial reactions, will be
on the same side of the fence as the BJP, and trouble
from the BSP constituency can also be expected. The kid
gloves will be taken off as all the opposition parties
will unite in Uttar Pradesh in a major offensive against
the government.
The people of Uttar Pradesh will pay the price. but then
that is what the people are for. The politicians play
the games, the people pay with their lives. There is
this group in the United Front which is extremely keen to
retain power in the state, by proxy if nothing else.
This belongs to the Janata Dal which is fading out of
existence in Uttar Pradesh but does not want to give up
its claim to power and has taken advantage of the situa-
tion to retain more than a foothold in the state. The
more notable members of this group are Prime Minister
H.D. Deve Gowda, information minister C.M. Ibrahim and
railway minister Ram Vilas Paswan. They were all very
supportive of the idea of imposing President's Rule, more
so because the governor is a man of their choice. Like
the earlier governor Motilal Vora, Romesh Bhandari also
makes no secret of his political preferences. President's
Rule in UP is going to cost the United Front government
dear. It was true that at the time of imposition there
was no other option left to the government. But it is
equally true, that not a single political leader lived up
to his or her responsibility and allowed a verdict to be
negated simply because of giant size egos making for
irreconcilable personal differences.
The secular politics of Uttar Pradesh, which even our
Left parties are unquestioningly supporting, has been
reduced to a clash between two absurd personalities who
have no vision, foresight, commitment or dedication to
speak about. They do have a decided flair for dirty
politicking, and this has been allowed to replace the
ability to govern.
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