Mayawati at the Helm of Affairs

The unprecedented victory of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) proved all calculations wrong and took everyone by surprise. ‘Behenji’ Mayawati is at the helm of affairs of UP, the most populous state of India.
Elections in Indian democracy, very often, look like a gamble. Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party (SP) secured just 3.8% less votes than BSP. Yet it lost power and Mayawati got the cake.
Mayawati could get this victory owing to her clever manoeuvres. She shrewdly worked for Dalit, upper castes, Muslim combination which once had been the forte of Congress, which ruled the state for a long period after independence. In UP Dalits are 22%, Muslims 18.5% and Brahmins about 10%. Muslims did not like Mayawati’s alliance in the past with the communal BJP. She made amends and distanced herself from BJP. She succeeded in capturing power on the strength of this new equation.
The dust has settled and Mayawati is well entrenched on her throne. But the big question is what is in store for the largest state of India and its 17 crore neglected citizens. Will she open a new chapter in good governance and mitigate the sufferings of common people or indulge in witch-hunting and cheap politics? Will UP see rule of law and have a fear-free and corruption-free society? If she raises herself above petty politics and achieves this she will carve a permanent place for herself and her party in the hearts of people. It can project her as a messiah of the downtrodden in other parts of the country.
Immediately after assuming power she declared that she stands for justice for one and all and her government would not tolerate communal violence and criminal elements. It is a welcome declaration as communalism and crime have been the bane of this state. The BJP in the last election also tried to garner votes by releasing a venomous anti-Muslim CD. Its rejection in the election has proved beyond any doubt that people are no longer in a mood to tolerate communal hatred.
Mayawati should take care that she does not indulge in vengeance and undoing everything that previous government did. She needs to adopt a very constructive approach and renounce vengeance as it does not serve the long range interest of her own party. Arbitrary transfers, suspensions and dismissals may create a sense of resentment in the bureaucrats and they may try to harm her government. Therefore forget and forgive, at least forgive if you cannot forget, would be the wisest policy she requires. Accommodation, reconciliation and cooperation from all political parties and sections of society should be the hallmark of her policy.
Another welcome aspect of the composition of the present assembly is better representation of Muslims in it. It is for the first time that 56 Muslims have been elected to UP assembly. It gives 14.5% representation to Muslims who are 18.5% of UP’s population. In the previous assembly there were 42 Muslim MLAs.
If there is a semblance of cooperation for certain constructive objectives, these 56 MLAs can play a very significant role in UP politics.
Jamaat-e-Islami Hind and a number of other organisations tried before the elections to unite Muslim votes. This effort met with a degree of success. Now is the time to redouble these efforts to bring about a greater degree of cooperation among Muslim legislators to achieve certain constructive objectives. In spite of their shortcomings the UP Muslims are in a position to play a very constructive role in UP politics.  All said and done let us extend our good wishes to the new incumbent on UP’s seat of power for having received the massive mandate. We wish her all success in her efforts for uplifting this potentially important state which has been condemned to become backward due to mis-governance by not one but many parties during past several decades. Seventeen crore UP citizens deserve more respect and a dignified place in the Indian democratic set-up.