by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group
Mayawati, A tough player
The terms and conditions of political alliance arrived at between BSP supremo Mayawati and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Singh are unfolding now causing acute embarrassment to all & sundry. The two leaders agreed that this alliance is limited to Parliamentary polls in May 2019 and not for the Assembly elections due in 2022. That Mayawati's party will contest 45 Lok Sabha seats while the SP will be given 35 seats. The constituencies will be decided is due course but the number is non-negotiable. Akhilesh Singh requested Buaji that the line of communications should remain open to which Mayawati nodded in agreement. However, Mayawati is now not available for talks and operates through intermediaries. Even when the question of putting up a joint Opposition candidate for Kairana Lok Sabha seat came up, Mayawati refused to meet. RLD leader Jayant Chaudhary wanted to contest the seat. Akhilesh Singh invited him to Lucknow to sort out the issue. Mayawati, instead of meeting them, sent a message that ticket be given to a woman Muslim leader who may contest on the RLD symbol. Since the Jats who dominate Kairana constituency, don't vote for Muslims, it will be a test of RLD's popularity among the Jats, she conveyed through messengers. If the RLD's Muslim candidate wins, it would be a proof that Jats voted for the RLD candidate. Left with no choice, RLD accepted the condition as the BJP is unwilling do any business with the RLD as its two tradition seats - Kairana & Baghpat – were captured by the BJP in 2014.
Congress' pipe dream
Irrespective of Congress president Rahul Gandhi's declaration that he would be Prime Minister if his party emerges as the single largest party and Opposition parties come together, Mayawati is determined not to do business with the Congress. She had told Akhilesh Yadav during the seat sharing meeting that the Congress party has no political base in the state and its votes are also not transferable to the BSP or SP candidates. Sensing that Akhilesh Singh was keen to bring Congress on board, she said, “If the SP wants, it can shares seats with it from its quota of 35 seats. We are not going to spare a single seat for the Congress in UP.” Akhilesh Singh didn't react on this issue as it was he who had taken the initiative to enter into an electoral alliance with “Buaji”. He had and even touched her feet during the first meeting to mollify her. Obviously, Mayawati is adopting a tough posture with the objective to negotiate Lok Sabha seats with the Congress in Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and other states. The Congress wants 15 Lok Sabha seats in UP which neither SP nor the BSP will be willing to spare. Therefore, Rahul Gandhi's dream of making the single largest party cannot be achieved unless SP-BSP are willing to do business with it.
BJP changes tack, avoid attacking Siddha, targets Rahul
After initially attacking Karnataka Chief Minister Siddharamiah and calling him names, the BJP leaders changed tack. Modi had bitterly attacked Siddha while launching Karnataka poll campaign terming the state's Congress-led government a " Sidha rupaiya sarkar" (a government that directly takes money). BJP's leader after leader targeted Siddharamiah of looting the state and used all sorts of adjectives. But Modi suddenly changed tack and gone gone full tilt at Rahul Gandhi. Its the Congress president who is now bearing the brunt of Modi's broadsides at election rallies of late.
It is learnt that surveys had revealed that Kannadiga sub-nationalism was working on the ground and the Chief Minister was succeeding in invoking the regional pride. Siddaramaiah's efforts to hold up Modi and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath who are even seen as North Indians attacking a south Indian leader.
Thus, the campaign was turned into Modi VS Rahul and the PM is avoiding locking horns with Siddaramaiah. The BJP even started playing down the corruption charges against Siddha as BJP's own Chief Ministerial candidate commands no better record on this score. In fact Siddha is proving a nightmare for BJP on twitter and scoring with the each passing day in campaigning. Irrespective of the results, Siddha has emerged as the leader par excellence.
Battle over re-naming college turns bitter
A relatively junior BJP leader who was once a party spokesman, Amitabh Sinha has challenged the authority of Human Resources Development Minister Prakash Javadekar. Sinha who was made chairman of the governing body of Dyal Singh Evening College, changed the name of the historic college as Vandemataram Dyal Singh College. Since this created a political crisis, the Minister told him to reverse the decision. However, Sinha curtly told Javadekar that the minister had no locus standi on the issue. This has acutely embarrassed Prakash Javadekar who is camping in Karnataka as incharge of the BJP's campaign. Javadekar had assured the Akali Dal, a key ally of the BJP, that the sentiments of Sikhs would be taken care of. He even held a high-level meeting of the higher education secretary, the then chairman of the University Grants Commission, the vice-chancellor of Delhi University and other officials. Amitabh Sinha was told to hold a meeting of the Governing body to reverse the decision. The virtual revolt by Amitabh Sinha has caused a flutter. Javadekar reportedly complained to BJP Chief Amit Shah in this regard. The matter may be resolved after the polls. But it certainly brought out chinks within the ruling BJP.
A hidden agenda Behind arrest
The arrest of Upendra Rai, a former editor-in-chief of the Sahara TV by the CBI caused ripples in political circles. It transpires that a case under stringent Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) may be invoked by the Enforcement Director shortly as the government is keen to fix Rai's political patrons. The Modi dispensation believes that Rai was able to make a killing due to his close links in the Finance and Home ministries. It transpires that he deposited Rs 57 crores in his various bank accounts and withdrew Rs 53 crores within one year period. The CBI went after Rai after Rajeshwar Singh, a senior officer of the Enforcement Director, lodged a complaint to the CBI. Though Rai was once close to Rajeshwar Singh but both fell out. It was Rajeshwar Singh who was reportedly promoting Rai and the latter had free access to key government departments including the ED and CBI. The tiff turned so bitter that Rai complained to the CBI against Rajeshwar Singh and a Preliminary Enquiry (PE) registered by the CBI. As the probe began, Rajeshwar Singh went up to the Supreme Court and obtained a stay against the CBI probe. Later, Rajeshwar Singh lodged a counter complaint of blackmail and extortion against Rai with the CBI. The end result was that CBI registered an FIR against Rai and arrested him. Now the PMLA is being slapped. It is now learnt that the Modi dispensation wants to know who were the recipients of Rs 53 crores Rai withdrew from banks on various dates. The government suspects that Rai had links with Karti Chidambaram. The Modi government feels that Rai had the support of certain senior Congress leaders who held key positions in the government during the UPA regime.
