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Monday, March 12, 2012

[ZESTCaste] After poll drubbing, Mayawati sets sights on Delhi

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-03-10/india/31143012_1_swami-prasad-maurya-legislative-council-vinay-shakya

After poll drubbing, Mayawati sets sights on Delhi
Ashish Tripathi, TNN Mar 10, 2012, 09.37PM IST

(Mayawati has called a meeting of party coordinators on March 11 in
which she is expected to discuss the reasons of BSP's poll debacle and
to draw further strategy, particularly for the Lok Sabha elections
scheduled in 2014.)

LUCKNOW: BSP chief Mayawati has decided to continue with her 'sarvjan'
policy (social engineering) despite drubbing in the recent elections.
She also seems to have decided to move to national politics, at least
till next Lok Sabha elections. This came to the fore on Wednesday at a
meeting of party leaders in which Mayawati distributed
responsibilities of leading the party in the state among Muslim,
brahman, dalit and backward class leaders. After defeat in polls, many
described that her social engineering had failed.

BSP state president Swami Prasad Maurya was elected leader of the
party's legislature group. Maurya has won the assembly seat from
Padrauna in Kushinagar district. He will also be the leader of the
opposition in the state assembly as BSP has emerged as the second
largest party. Naseemuddin Siddiqui was made leader of the party in
the legislative council. Though it was clear that Swami would be made
the leader of BSP in the assembly, there were doubts that Naseemuddin
Siddiqui would be given the responsibility in after being indicted by
the Lokayukt for corruption. But his selection shows that he still
enjoys Mayawati's trust.

Gurucharan Dinkar, who won from Naraeni seat of Banda, has been made
deputy leader of BSP legislature group. Former energy minister in
Mayawati government Ramveer Upadhaya will be party's chief whip in the
assembly, while another former minister Vedram Bhati will shoulder the
responsibility of the whip. No leader close to SC Mishra, BSP's
Brahmin face, has got any position in state legislature party. Sources
said that very few MLAs of his group have won elections this time. In
2007, when Mishra had successfully brought brahmans close to BSP
leading to victory in the elections, all leaders close to him got good
positions in the government.

However, this time Mishra's close aide, lawyer Gopal Narayan Mishra,
has been made deputy leader in the legislative council. Sunil Kumar
Chittod has been made chief whip and Vinay Shakya will be the whip.
Former minister Indrajeet Saroj, who won from Manjhanpur constituency
of Kaushambi, has been treasurer of the state legislative party.
Mayawati told party leaders not to be disappointed by assembly
elections results and continue to work for the BSP's cause. She
exhorted MLAs to boldly face 'SP government's politics of vendetta'
and raise their voices at proper fora but under no circumstances take
law in his/her hand.

Mayawati is at present member of the state legislative council. But
Behenji has not taken the responsibility of heading the legislative
council group of the party, indicating that she would go to the Rajya
Sabha, elections for which will be held later this month. The BSP has
won only 80 seats in the assembly elections, hence it can elect only
two members for the Rajya Sabha. The name of Mayawati's close aide and
cabinet secretary in her government is also being taken for the Rajya
Sabha nomination. Earlier, in 2004, Mayawati after losing power to SP
in the state had moved to the national politics by getting herself
nominated for the Rajya Sabha.

Mayawati has called a meeting of party coordinators on Sunday in which
she is expected to discuss the reasons of BSP's poll debacle and to
draw further strategy, particularly for the Lok Sabha elections
scheduled in 2014.

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[ZESTCaste] Identity-plus is the new political mantra (Chandan Mitra)

http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnists/item/51213-identity-plus-is-the-new-political-mantra.html

Identity-plus is the new political mantra

Author: Chandan Mitra

As India transits into the post-Mandal era, the UP election results
show caste and community are necessary but not sufficient conditions
to ensure electoral triumph

The Samajwadi Party's decisive victory in Uttar Pradesh signals
India's transition to a post-Mandal era. Outgoing Chief Minister
Mayawati's Press conference in Lucknow after submitting her
resignation was a clear reinforcement of this. Regretting that Muslims
had fallen prey to the SP's charms and Congress's wiliness, she
pointed out that the upper castes and trading classes (Banias) too had
gone substantially with the winning side. She castigated the non-Yadav
OBCs for dividing their vote and largely throwing their lot with the
SP, despite expectations to the contrary.

Unfortunately for her, Ms Mayawati has interpreted the Uttar Pradesh
result purely in terms of caste arithmetic, underlining her inability
to anticipate the changing dynamics of north Indian voter behaviour.

She seems to have reverted to the outdated Bahujan formula propounded
by her mentor Kanshi Ram, who regarded Indian society as an
amalgamation of caste blocs that tended to think and act as
homogeneous groups. He was convinced some day they would unite to
seize state power that rightfully belonged to them — hence the slogan,
"Vote hamara, raj tumhara, nahin chalega, nahin chalega". Kanshi Ram
believed, almost in a Leninist kind of way, that a Dalit-led party had
to function as the vanguard of the 'revolution', and gradually bring
other underprivileged communities under its umbrella.

There was a fatal flaw in this formulation. The other underprivileged
sections, comprising mainly peasant classes such as the Yadavs and the
Kurmis, marginal sections like the Nishads, the Pasis and the Mallahs
as well as the poorer Muslims, have always been in serious social
conflict with the Dalits. The incongruity of trying to bring them
together in a socio-political rainbow coalition came a cropper within
a few months when the SP-BSP alliance of 1993 collapsed amid acrimony.
Being more pragmatic, Ms Mayawati moved away from Kanshi Ram's
theoretical construct and tied up with the BJP.

Three unsuccessful coalitions later, she was sufficiently emboldened
to branch out on her own, riding the wave of disenchantment with
Mulayam Singh Yadav's lawless regime that came to power allegedly with
the BJP's covert backing in 2004. Her 2007 triumph flummoxed political
pundits not only because she won a clear mandate — the first since
Kalyan Singh's 212 seats in 1991 — but also on account of the upper
caste and substantial Muslim vote that came her way. But this too was
an uneasy social alliance; her new supporters voted not out of
conviction but convenience. Brahmins realised that the BJP was a
declining force and the Congress, their other preferred choice,
non-existent. Muslims, on the other hand, were angered by their
political 'maulana' joining hands with 'Babri-breaker' Kalyan Singh.
Besides, Ms Mayawati's mastery over caste equations in each Assembly
segment enabled her to experiment with upper caste and Muslim
candidates, as by then she was confident that the Dalit vote was fully
transferable. This time, however, the same meticulous calculation
boomeranged at the EVMs.

Just as Ms Mayawati realised some years ago that Dalit-only politics
was self-limiting and would never catapult her to power on her own
steam, Mr Yadav too learnt the lesson during his political isolation
between 2007 and 2012. Along with his fervent championship of
Mandalism, he went out of his way to mend the rupture with Muslims,
caused by Amar Singh's adventurism post-2007. But M-Y too has its
limitations. Mandal's other torch-bearer, Lalu Prasad Yadav, was
comprehensively outflanked by his former colleague Nitish Kumar, who
rallied the MBC communities, persuaded Muslims he wasn't their mortal
enemy despite his tie-up with the BJP, while the upper castes were
happy to go along because of the BJP's presence in the alliance. These
experiments have demonstrated that power cannot be achieved, leave
alone retained, by Mandalism alone. Politics has entered a Mandal-plus
phase, which encompasses both identity and aspiration.

Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav may not have consciously crafted a Mandal-plus
appeal, but the promotion of Akhilesh Yadav as the Samajwadi Party's
new mascot helped widen its catchment area. Although he decided to
switch to chaste Hindi after Rahul Gandhi took a swipe at a Lohiaite
party leader speaking in English to the media, Mr Akhilesh Yadav's
strategists were anything but traditional dhoti-clad politicians. In
fact, they weren't politicians at all. The unexpected victory of
foreign-educated, English-speaking technocrat Abhishek Mishra from a
Lucknow seat demonstrates the success of the makeover Mr Akhilesh
Yadav has spawned. It is clear that, thanks to his refreshing style
and understated rhetoric, large sections of the youth cutting across
caste lines voted for the SP. It is this which gave the party its
cutting edge, heaving it well above the 200-seat mark whereas M-Y
alone could not have netted more than 160.

However, those claiming that identity politics is dead have failed to
grasp the reality. If Ms Mayawati triumphed decisively in 2007 and the
Samajwadi Party has bettered that, it is because both have a core
vote-based on identity. It is the same for the Akalis in Punjab, whose
Jat support remains unwavering or the BJP in Rajasthan which retains
the Rajput base constructed painstakingly by Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.

Both the Congress and the BJP failed again in Uttar Pradesh, the
former more humiliatingly, because their erstwhile core vote has got
scattered. Since the 1980s, the Congress has steadily lost its
unbeatable Brahmin-Muslim-Dalit base. Mr Rahul Gandhi's advisers
aggressively sought to grab a big slice of the Muslim vote this time
but even its reservation lollipop and tearful references to Batla
House failed to make a dent. From all accounts, Muslims found the
Congress's frenzied attempts to woo the community lacking credibility,
somewhat pathetic. They had voted for the Congress in large numbers in
2009 because they wanted to keep the BJP away from power in Delhi and
may do so again in 2014. But after forgiving Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav
his 2007-2009 transgressions, they voted almost en masse for him this
time. The BJP's cross-caste appeal peaked in the wake of the Ram
Mandir movement but has ebbed since because even its traditional
supporters don't believe it is a contender for power in Lucknow. And
none but the committed vote for an also-ran, which is why Ms Mayawati
crashed to 80 from 206.

In other words, in order to emerge victorious in any caste-sensitive
State, a party needs to first establish its predominance over a core
caste/community block and then seek to expand its appeal beyond that.
It would be a serious misreading of the Bihar or Uttar Pradesh
verdicts to commence writing obituaries of identity politics. Caste
and religion continue to matter a great deal, but it's no longer caste
alone that can win elections. Identity has to gel with aspiration. And
aspiration is linked to development, not just bijli-sadak-pani but
livelihood opportunities, educational avenues, health facilities and
other human development index goals.

Moral of the story: Mr Rahul Gandhi must go back to the drawing board,
recognising that physical appearance and dynastic charm can't get him
far in the hard-nosed electoral politics of north India. These factors
can be the icing on the cake, but without the cake the icing is
inconsequential. The BJP should do better than this in 2014 on an
anti-corruption, development-driven agenda, but its limitations as far
as Uttar Pradesh is concerned are similar.
Last modified on Saturday, 10 March 2012 20:14

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[ZESTCaste] Can Akhilesh Singh Yadav make UP find economic dynamism like Bihar?

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/can-akhilesh-singh-yadav-make-up-find-economic-dynamism-like-bihar/articleshow/12213967.cms

11 Mar, 2012, 09.08PM IST, Avinash Celestine,ET Bureau
Can Akhilesh Singh Yadav make UP find economic dynamism like Bihar?

Soon after the Samajwadi Party swept to its stunning victory in Uttar
Pradesh, ET on Sunday spoke to an industry leader in the state. What
were his thoughts about the new Samajwadi Party government? His
outlook was wary, bordering on cynical. "Someone I spoke to summed it
up like this," he said. "Lootere gaye, goonde aa gaye [The thieves
have gone and the goons have come in]."

The Samajwadi Party may have battled Mayawati for the political space
in Uttar Pradesh, but when it comes to the realm of the economy, the
biggest battle may be internal. Mulayam Raj between 2002 and 2007 was
widely seen as a 'goonda raj' and events on counting day, attacks by
SP workers on journalists, and the death of a child when another SP
worker fired his gun in celebration, bought many of those fears back.
Mayawati did little for industry, but it is widely acknowledged that
law and order was far less of a problem for industry under her. Will
SP 2.0 be different?

Lopsided Economy

UP's growth since atleast 2003-04, has been nothing to sneeze at.
Between 2006 and 2010, state GDP growth was an average of 7%.
Manufacturing growth was around 8.6%, though construction was a major
driver of the state economy, growing at around 10%. But it is the
pattern of this growth, with income generation being concentrated
regionally and sectorally, that are worrying.

Six of a total of 71 districts in UP accounted for a quarter of the
state's growth between 2000 and 2009. In terms of employment growth,
manufacturing employed one of four urban workers in 2009-10, but
that's actually a fall of three percentage points from 2004-05. The
only sectors which have expanded their share of employment in these
years has been construction and public administration.

In rural areas again, it is construction which has been the biggest
driver in employment growth, seeing its share rise from 5.3% to 12.3%
of the rural workforce in five years. It is this lopsidedness which
the SP government has to fix and which is a symptom of the more common
complaints in UP's industry circles, crumbling infrastructure and
frequent power cuts being the biggest.

SP's Bad Politics

Apart from its dubious track record on law and order, the SPs
reputation is helped little by its stance on other aspects of policy
reform. "The SP has been largely conservative in approach to economic
policy reform," points out AK Singh, of the Giri Institute of
Development Studies in Lucknow. The SP for instance had opposed
investment in organised retail, a stance echoed by Mayawati. What will
SPs approach be this time around?

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[ZESTCaste] Now, Mayawati expresses possibility of mid-term elections, asks party workers to be ready

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/now-mayawati-expresses-possibility-of-mid-term-elections-asks-party-workers-to-be-ready/articleshow/12223689.cms

11 Mar, 2012, 10.05PM IST, Ashish Tripathi,TNN
Now, Mayawati expresses possibility of mid-term elections, asks party
workers to be ready

LUCKNOW: BSP chief Mayawati on Sunday asked party workers to be ready
for the mid-term Lok Sabha elections, possibilities of which have
increased in the wake of changed political scenario of the country
after recent elections in five states, including UP.

Apprehending large scale violence against BSP supporters in the SP
regime, she also announced that the BSP will not contest any elections
in UP, including forthcoming urban local bodies polls, which are
conducted by the state machinery. She said that her party will
participate in only those elections which are conducted by the
Election Commission of India under Central security forces because
past experience show that elections conducted by state machinery under
SP rule have never been free and fair.

BJP and Shiromani Akali Dal have already expressed possibilities of
mid-term poll. Similar possibilities were also expressed by the
Trinmool Congress leader and union railway minister Dinesh Trivedi but
he later took a U-turn and denied that his party wants early Lok Sabha
elections.

Addressing All India Workers Convention, Mayawati said that the BSP
has lost assembly polls in UP but has got impressive vote share and
with little ground work can score big in the parliamentary elections.
She said that the difference between BSP and SP in assembly elections
was of only 24.50 lakh votes but it made SP win 144 more seats than
BSP. She also dissolved all party units at the district and assembly
levels and brotherhood committees formed to bring other castes and
communities close to BSP and blamed party coordinators for not
providing correct feedback of the ground situation which led to
party's defeat.

Mayawati said that she would now personally supervise the overhauling
of party organisation and preparation for the parliamentary elections.

Mayawati also criticised both SP and Congress.

"Under Congress led UPA government, the country has only seen the rise
in corruption and prices," she said.

She also said that the law and order is bound to collapse under SP
rule, the glimpse of which has been seen in the form of spurt in cases
of violence in the state from the day SP won the assembly elections.

"The goonda raj is back and in most of the violent cases witnessed so
far, BSP voters and leaders have been were targeted by the SP goons,"
she alleged. Under such circumstances, she claimed, contesting local
bodies elections would put life and property of the BSP supporters
under threat because SP, which has never performed well in civic
polls, this time would go to any extent to show that its base has
increased.

Interestingly, the BSP has not been contesting local bodies poll in UP
since 2002 because it does not have base in urban areas. Another
reason was that the local bodies elections were held just before the
assembly polls. Hence, a defeat in the local bodies polls would have
put an adverse impact on the assembly elections.

This time also, the local bodies elections were due in November 2011
but the then BSP government created a situation leading to
postponement of elections till April. Though the state election
commission had announced that it was ready to hold elections on time,
the BSP government delayed the process by taking plea that reservation
and delimitation of wards under urban local bodies is not complete
because of absence of adequate population data.

On BSP's defeat in the assembly elections, Mayawati said the Congress
communalised the elections on the issue of Muslim quota and added that
the BJP tried to take advantage of the situation by trying to polarise
votes of religious lines.

Apprehending that polarisation of upper castes and backward classes
among Hindus may bring the BJP to power, she said over 70% Muslims
voted for SP.

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[ZESTCaste] Maya in mellow avatar

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/editorial/op-ed/maya-mellow-avatar-356

Maya in mellow avatar

March 12, 2012
Reporter's diary

Softened by defeat

Uttar Pradesh's Iron Lady does, after all, have a softer side to her.
Just two days before the declaration of the Assembly election results
in Uttar Pradesh which swept her Bahujan Samaj Party out of power, Ms
Mayawati invited all the bureaucrats in her secretariat for tea.

Over tea and savouries, she thanked them for helping her run the state
smoothly for five years and appreciated how they had worked beyond
office hours and had carried out her instructions. For each one, she
had a word of praise or appreciation. Even the junior staff,
comprising clerks and peons, was called in and thanked for their
services. The gesture, we believe, has touched the staff greatly.

"Wish we had known this side of Ms Mayawati earlier and wish she had
shown this side to the people of the state too, then, perhaps, the
results would have been different," said one of the officers present
after the Assembly election results came in. Leopards can't change
their spots, but elephants, as we know, never forget.

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Monday, March 12, 2012

[ZESTCaste] After poll drubbing, Mayawati sets sights on Delhi

[ZESTCaste] Identity-plus is the new political mantra (Chandan Mitra)

[ZESTCaste] Can Akhilesh Singh Yadav make UP find economic dynamism like Bihar?

[ZESTCaste] Now, Mayawati expresses possibility of mid-term elections, asks party workers to be ready

[ZESTCaste] Maya in mellow avatar

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