Says Centre’s move will benefit Gandhi and his foreign cronies; won’t allow Walmart in UP.
As the upper caste vote in the state appears to be undecided as yet, Mayawati’s firm championing of traders’ interests and the implications of cronyism is seen as an astute political move to broaden her support among the upper caste, including brahmins.
Significantly, Rahul Gandhi’s repeated assertions of rampant corruption in UP during his ongoing jan sampark yatra appeared to be aimed at undermining Mayawati’s appeal among dalits — the BSP’s loyal vote bank. At present, the fight in UP appears to be poised between Rahul and Mayawati, with both trying to outdo each other in reaching out to their captive vote banks.
While the dalit vote is consolidated behind Mayawati, the UP chief minister on Saturday seized the opportunity to send out a strong message to the upper caste traders — banias and brahmins — in the state. Branding the government move to permit multi-brand FDI as “anti-people”, she said her government would not allow it in UP, adding that she would not allow Walmart to come to the state.
The brahmin vote bank constitutes 16 per cent of the UP electorate. In the last Assembly polls in 2007, Mayawati had attracted the brahmins in a big way, something she is trying to repeat this time too. The Muslim vote is likely to be split between the BSP, Samajwadi Party and Congress. Both the BSP and Congress are trying to reach out to the brahmin vote as it may turn out to be a crucial deciding factor.
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Hitting out at Rahul Gandhi, who has been making frequent inroads into what she perceives as ‘her state’, Mayawati said, “With the UP assembly elections nearing, Congress ‘yuvraj’ (Rahul), in a bid to benefit the companies of his foreign friends, is indulging into dramatics to bring his party in power”. She further alleged that the decision on FDI was taken to benefit the companies of these foreigners and to make them billionaires.
Traders and retailers in UP include the wealthy Agarwals, Maheshwaris and brahmins and have a clear hold over big cities such as Kanpur, Banaras, Lucknow and Meerut. Her appeal lies to this segment.
Mayawati’s recent recommendation to the Centre, urging for reservation to the poor among the upper castes, is also aimed at this section.
At a Brahmin Samaj convention earlier this month, the BSP chief said she had given a large number of tickets to brahmins, unlike other parties. For the forthcoming assembly elections, BSP has given 104 tickets to brahmins till now, compared to Congress’ 13. In the 2007 elections, it gave tickets to 85 brahmins, 45 of whom won. In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, 19 brahmins got BSP tickets, seven of whom won.
Conscious of the fact that BSP is the chief opposition in the state, Rahul Gandhi has been chipping away at her vote bank. Highlighting the rampant corruption in the state, he said yesterday, “An elephant in Lucknow is eating up the central funds.”
Giving example of Congress-ruled states, Rahul said that while they were progressing, people from UP were forced to go to states like Maharashtra, Haryana, Punjab and Delhi for work. Ridiculing Mayawati’s luxurious lifestyle in contrast to his close interaction with the “aam admi” in UP, he said, “Present day politicians do not visit villages, eat with the people and drink water from their wells and, therefore, are unaware about the problems of the public.”
A stung Mayawati on Saturday shot back, “As the Congress ‘yuvraj’ was brought up and educated in a foreign country, his mindset is that of a foreigner. Therefore, whenever he comes to UP, he brings along his foreign friends on a leisure trip and, for entertainment, takes them to the huts of poor people to mock their poverty.”