A blue garland for the elephant

Anticipating Dalit support for Rahul Gandhi and Congress in the next assembly polls, Mayawati is returning to her pro-Dalit agenda with a vengeance
Pradeep Kapoor Lucknow

Reeling under constant fear of the Congress weaning away Dalit voters from the party, UP Chief Minister Mayawati organised a 'maharally' in commemoration of 25 years of the party and birth anniversary of its founding-member, Kanshi Ram, in Lucknow on March 15. She addressed her core voters for about two hours.

Opposition leaders have bitterly criticised her for pumping in huge amounts of money, the entire UP power apparatus and official machinery for organising the show though ordinary people continued to suffer due to the recent communal riots and subsequent curfew in Bareilly, and relentless inflation.

The situation got aggravated with reports of fresh rounds of violence after Taukir Raza Khan, who belongs to the influential family of the founder of Bareilvi Muslims, was arrested by the UP regime. He was released later, but the tension due to his arrest remained simmering. Communal violence in Bareilly was sparked earlier on March 2.

Local Congress MP, Praveen Singh Aron, said the arrest and subsequent release of Khan was part of a wider BSP conspiracy. When released, Khan claimed that he was arrested because he had backed Congress in the last Lok Sabha polls.

Political commentators see the Bareilly riots as an attempt to polarise the politics of the city where the sitting MP is from Congress, after BJP had called the shots for 22 long years. While the upper castes have voted for BJP in the past, there has been tough competition between BSP, Congress and Samajwadi Party (SP) to win over Muslims voters.

Muslims are upset with the BSP government for handling the riots with characteristic non-seriousness, and for prolonging the curfew, derailing lives of ordinary people including of students appearing for their board examinations. Others sense a conspiracy behind the violence in what is basically a deeply secular social fabric. Observers say that these riots would be a major setback for Mayawati who is trying to gain Muslim support to retain power in the next assembly polls.

She is aware that Muslims have deserted SP after Mulayam Singh joined hands with Kalyan Singh, as is evident from SP's loss of seats in the last Lok Sabha elections with not one winning Muslim candidate. She knows that a large chunk of Muslim votes went to Congress that won 22 out of 80 seats in UP. The party seems to have gained sympathy from alienated Muslims after AICC general secretary and in-charge of UP affairs, Digvijay Singh, visited Azamgarh and took an 'open stand' on the Batla house encounter, widely perceived to be fake. He clearly said, "I have seen the photographs of the youth killed in the encounter. I think there should be a probe."

Obviously, he was referring to the killing of young Sajid, 18, with five bullet wounds on the upper side of his head. Indeed, the latest post mortem reports refute the police version, including the reference of Sajid being hit by a "blunt force". Rahul Gandhi is also expected to do his bit in his scheduled visit to Azamgarh. In that sense, Azamgarh, branded as a 'terrorist haven' by an irresponsible media, represents the collective angst and anger of the Muslim community in UP.

In these circumstances, Mayawati has given more importance to her trusted lieutenant, Nasimuddin Siddiqui, who holds important ministries and is virtually the number two cabinet minister. Siddiqui is the Muslim face responsible for winning over minority votes. After the Lucknow rally, Mayawati gave additional charge of the agriculture ministry to Siddiqui to emphasise his growing importance. Siddiqui was seen handling the dais and raising slogans for 'behenji'.