Mayawati punished, national parties favoured in UP

As the two national parties surge ahead, with the Congress-led alliance with an edge over the BJP-led NDA, it's safe to deduce that Mayawati has been severely punished for entertaining the very gundas, whom she had vowed would be put behind bars.

CJ: Arindam Roy, 7 days ago Views:586 Comments:1

IF EARLY trends are any indication, one thing is loud and clear that the people have rejected the regional satraps in Uttar Pradesh. The UPA is way ahead of the NDA with a lead in 228 seats as compares to 160 for the latter, at the time of filing this report.

In the last Assembly election in the state, the polity had rejected the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Mulayam Singh Yadav, as he was seen to be hobnobbing with goons and mafias. Mayawati, the Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) chief had assured the people that she would end this gunda raj. The popular slogan was, “Char gundo ki chati par, mohar lagega hathi par.”

Strangely, after her taste of power, she was so heady that she forgot her own slogans and promises. She fielded several goons and mafias, in the Lok Sabha election. Political pundits felt that the fight in this General Election would still be between BSP and SP, with Congress and BJP being non-existent in the state. They were completely wrong as were most journalists.

As the two national parties surge ahead, with the Congress-led alliance with an edge over the BJP-led NDA, it’s safe to deduce that Mayawati has been severely punished for entertaining the very gundas, whom she had vowed would be put behind bars and thus give UP a clean, ‘bhai-mukta sarkar’ (fear free government). She has paid for her sins, just as Yadav did in the recent past.

Another thing is clear. As BSP is being humbled in UP, the prime ministerial dreams of Mayawati have been dashed and she would be a very angry person. This would mean some more transfers of the top bureaucrats and police officers.

Meanwhile, Varun Gandhi, the poster boy of BJP is leading from Pilibhit, while the think tank of the saffron party, Murli Manohar Joshi, is reportedly leading from Varanasi.

Joshi’s lead is a surprise and no less than a miracle. It needs to be pointed out that the people of Allahabad had given him the rare honour of representing them, three times in a row, until they decided to trounce him in the last Lok Sabha elections of 2004. Joshi had to concede defeat to Reoti Raman Singh, a state minister, who was a mere pigmy compared to his opponent.

Meanwhile, Jayaprada the celebrity SP candidate from Rampur was also trailing. Azam Khan’s opposing her from within harmed her more than the challenge she had from her other political opponents, from other parties.

(http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=15769634)