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Poll time in Uttar Pradesh
DESPITE THE ABYSMALLY low standard of living, destruction caused by floods and an insensitive administration, the political discourse in the villages of Uttar Pradesh has always reflected a deep sense of maturity. With hardly a month left before the Assembly polls are held, there is indeed a lot of excitement in the State on this count. The fact that concerns of governance have hardly been central to the democratic discourse in the State had meant that caste and other such considerations remained on centre stage. This has been the case with the elections in Uttar Pradesh all these years. And it is this very ground reality that is evident in the manner in which the various parties have gone about drawing up their list of candidates for the Assembly polls in February. The fact that the party leaders explain without inhibition the proportion of candidates (in their list) in terms of castes and other such categories may appear out of sync at a certain level. But then, this is perfectly in tune with the political discourse in the Gangetic valley and its surroundings. Caste, religion and other medieval notions of identity have been central to the political discourse there for long.
However, there is cause for concern for these very reasons in the context of the coming elections. As for instance, the culture of politics sans governance that was put in place in the State over the years was behind the entrenchment of power brokers and even history-sheeters in parties cutting across the spectrum. The BJP's leaders, led by the Chief Minister, Rajnath Singh, for instance are now boasting about their commitment to cleansing the stables of criminal elements, reflecting in the denial of the party ticket to some such MLAs. But then the fact that this is only an election-eve facelift is bound to stick and far more disastrous is the fact that such elements cannot be expected to stay indoors when the campaign begins in a few days from now. Instead, these very elements will be employed in the campaign by the BJP or the Opposition. There are reports of such men finding a place in the other parties now. This indeed is cause for concern. For, history-sheeters are certainly not going to help in the conduct of elections in a peaceful manner. And where caste and communal considerations are the most important, the presence of such men with criminal antecedents (and they are there in all the major parties) is bound to render the violence they indulge in far more dangerous.
Add to this the zeal that the BJP and its leaders have shown in using the election campaign in Uttar Pradesh as an occasion to further sharpen the majoritarian agenda. The communal colours that its local cadre have added to the controversy over POTO and the sectarian rhetoric by a section of the BJP leadership after the December 13 incidents outside Parliament House have only furthered polarisation on communal lines. The war-mongering, once again a central feature of the BJP's ideological moorings, substantially furthers the polarisation across the State on communal lines. It is in this context that the VHP and some other arms of the Sangh Parivar are upping the ante, once again, on the Ayodhya issue. All these have injected into the Uttar Pradesh elections a dimension that is different from the poll atmosphere in the past. This demands from the parties on the other end — Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party and Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party — a strategy that will ensure that the BJP is challenged frontally on its campaign against the dangers of war-mongering and other such sectarian rhetoric.
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