Sincerely, Mayawati: Letters from a CM to the PM
Sanjay Singh Posted: May 26, 2010 at 0118 hrs
Lucknow Despite her prickly relationship with the Centre, Uttar
Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati believes in never putting the lid on
dialogue. In the 36 months since coming to power in May 2007, she has
written 100 letters to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, averaging one
every eleventh day.
Which would make her, in all likelihood, not just the PM's most
prolific correspondent among chief ministers, but possibly among all
major leaders in the country.
In her letters, Mayawati has put forward her demands and requests for
UP, and her views on a range of issues. The last letter she wrote, her
hundredth, on May 15, contained her views on the inclusion of caste in
the census, sources in the Chief Minister's office said.
"Successive governments at the Centre deliberately avoided a
caste-based census in order to deprive the biggest section of the
country's population of their constitutional rights," the CM wrote,
according to a release issued by the state government.
Mayawati begins her communications to the PM with the salutation
"Aadarniya Pradhan Mantriji", and signs off with "Bhavadiya,
Mayawati". In her first letter, written on May 21, 2007, a week after
she took charge in Lucknow, the CM expressed regret for not being able
to attend a party hosted by the PM on the completion of three years of
the UPA-I government.
Subsequently, over the next three years, she raised issues ranging
from a Bharat Ratna for BSP founder Kanshi Ram (in January 2008) to
piracy off the coast of Somalia (in February 2009).
In May 2009, Mayawati wrote to the PM about the murder of Dera Sach
Khand leader Sant Ramanand in Vienna, and four months later, expressed
concern over the security of AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi.
Earlier, in October 2008, she had raised the issue of attacks on north
Indians in Maharashtra, and in February that year, asked the PM to
consider removing Delhi's Lieutenant Governor Tejendra Khanna for an
alleged remark to the effect that north Indians take pride in breaking
the law.
In an earlier letter, written in December 2007, Mayawati put forth her
views on reservation for the Mochi community in the SC category in
Gujarat. She wrote at least four letters expressing concern over the
lack of development in Bundelkhand; at other times, she discussed the
Right To Education Act, the Justice Dinakaran episode and the women's
reservation Bill.
Her letter on Dinakaran, written on December 19, 2009, began, "Main
aapko yeh patra ek mahatwapoorn prakaran ke sambandh mein likh rahi
hoon (I am writing to you about a very important matter)", and went on
to request the PM to give an opportunity to Dinakaran to present his
side of the story as per the principle of natural justice ("nyaya ka
naisargik siddhant").
In her eight months in power in 2007, Mayawati wrote 14 letters to the
PM. In 2008, she was more prolific, writing 41 letters. In 2009,
despite being busy with the Lok Sabha elections, she found time to
write to the PM 36 times.
Sources close to Mayawati said she writes all important letters
personally. "All letters that have a political tone are written
personally by her. Since she alone decides her party's agenda, the
topics she writes on are also entirely of her own choosing," said a
top source.
A BSP leader the CM's letters would stand as a "historical record" for
the party. "This is necessary for future generations to know the BSP's
views on all these issues," said the leader.
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