From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 8, Issue 40, Dated 08 Oct 2011
CURRENT AFFAIRS
UTTAR PRADESH
Maya Writes About All Wrongs
The UP chief minister has found a new hobby. Writing letters to the
prime minister, says Virendra Nath Bhatt
Pen pusher Mayawati has written to the prime minister on a range of issues
UTTAR PRADESH Chief Minister Mayawati has been waging an epistolary
war against the Congress, having bombarded Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh with over 100 letters since coming to power in 2007. The latest
ones she has written demand reservation for the poor among the upper
castes, Muslims and Jats.
From 17 to 19 September, she shot off one each day. The first demanded
amending the Constitution to giving reservation to Muslims as per
their share in national population. The second demanded reservation
for the poor among the upper castes. The third, and certainly not the
last, asked for inclusion of Jats in the Central list of reservation
for OBCs.
Each of these groups, of course, are seen as vote banks, and are being
wooed by politicians in the runup to the 2012 Assembly poll. "It is an
established fact that Brahmins were instrumental in enabling the BSP
to attain simple majority in the UP Assembly after the 2007 polls and
form the government on her own — the first such government in UP since
the 1991 Assembly elections," says political analyst Ashutosh Mishra.
"Given Mayawati's inaccessibility, her dictatorial style of
functioning and overall deterioration in quality of governance during
her rule, Brahmins are no longer enamoured of the BSP," he says.
Stark realities haunt the BSP. Its vote share in the 2009 Lok Sabha
election plummeted to 27.42 percent against 30.43 percent in the 2007
Assembly elections. Also, against the 206 seats won by the BSP in
2007, Mayawati's party could lead in only 100 Assembly segments
falling under 80 Parliamentary seats in UP, during the 2009 Lok Sabha
election.
Pointing out that writing letters is just posturing, UP Congress chief
Rita Bahuguna Joshi told TEHELKA, "Instead of petitioning the prime
minister, Mayawati should have taken the initiative to implementing
the quota for Muslims in UP as done by Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and few
other states."
Rashtriya Lok Dal's Jayant Choudhary also points out, "The Bihar
government has constituted a commission to assess the educational,
social and economic condition of the poor among upper castes. But
Mayawati only writes letters," says Choudhary.
The Samajwadi Party (SP) also dismissed the missives as a pre-poll
stunt. "Writing letters to the PM is her favourite pastime. After
heaping all sorts of humiliations and injustices on Muslims, she has
suddenly developed concern for their upliftment. She never exerted
pressure on the Centre for implementation of the Sachar committee
recommendations," says senior SP leader Azam Khan adding, "Mayawati is
not even aware of the panel's findings and recommendations."
The barb about writing being just a pastime rings true. Other letters
over the years have touched on piracy off the coast of Somalia, the
murder of Dera Sach Khand leader Sant Ramanand in Vienna, and concern
over the security of AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi. In October
2008, she raised the issue of attacks on north Indians in Maharashtra,
and in February that year, asked the PM to consider removing Delhi's
Lt Governor Tejendra Khanna for allegedly remarking that north Indians
take pride in breaking the law.
Way back 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.
In 2007, Mayawati wrote 14 letters to the PM. In 2008, she was even
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.
So, is there a ghost writer? Sources close to Mayawati said she writes
all political letters personally. "Since she alone decides her party's
agenda, the topics she writes on are entirely of her own choosing,"
says a senior bureaucrat.
A BSP leader said 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," says the leader.
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