The Uttar Pradesh bureaucracy is keenly watching the unfolding drama at the Centre over state Governor Romesh Bhandaris conduct.
Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders have sunk their differences over the role of Romesh Bhandari in governing the state, and are now speaking in one voice. the partys leader, Mulayam Singh Yadav, is undoubtedly in control of the state. He is the man who decides transfers and postings and has a voice in deciding what is to be done in particular cases.
The crafty leader has ensured that the CBI is kept from arresting his men. The Governor recently refused permission to the CBI to prosecute former minister Balram Singh Yadav and an IAS officer, Sharma, in the Rs 63 crore ayurveda scam. Earlier, Bhandari had also prevented the CBI from prosecuting Neera Yadav in the Noida housing scam. All these officers are close to Mulayam Singh. Yadav was a minister in his government. Both the Ayurveda scam and the Noida Housing scam date back to Mulayams chief ministership.
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In postings, too, Mulayam has managed things his way. Officers who were looking too closely at the murder of the shadow of his brother were moved out right in the beginning. Mulayams brothers hand is suspected in the murder, which happened just before the election.
The most glaring instance of the SP-Governor nexus was the Brahma Dutt Dwivedi murder case. Within hours of the murder of the BJP leader, the Raj Bhawan and the DGP came out with the Thakur Vs Brahmin theory, forgetting that Vijay Singh the alleged murderer was a jat, and connecting him with Updesh Singh Chauhan, an arch Mulayam foe.
Once the theory got blasted, they tried to prove that the murder resulted from intra-party feuds within the BJP. They also tried to prove that Dwivedi himself was gang leader. Mulayam himself could not have done better.
The Governor has unashamedly spent government money in the constituencies of Samajwadi leaders, including that of Mulayam Singh, Beni Prasad Verma and others. Obviously, Mulayam cannot allow the removal of Bhandari. The new man may not kowtow to Mulayam the way this Governor has. He may genuinely be a representative of the UF, rather than of the Samajwadi Party.
Inderjit Guptas attack on governance in UP is meant primarily to restore the role of the UF in the state.
In this effort, he has the full support of the state units of the JD, the Kamgaar Party and that of CPI. The battle is between the authoritarianism of Mulayam Singh against the requirements of coalition politics.
The tug-of-war is being watched keenly by parties in the state. The state CPI has been anti-Mulayam since 1995, when it fought against him and helped install Mayawati as the Chief Minister. Mulayam has not forgiven the party for that. He ensured that the CPI was not allowed to contest in constituencies where the party was stronger. The CPI, thus, could get only one seat in the Vidhan Sabha. And the party has not forgiven Yadav for that. The state Janata Dal and the Kamgaar Party are vehemently anti-Mulayam. They had unsuccessfully tried to erect a front with the BSP, sans SP, before the elections. The chances of such a front is considered a remote possibility at the moment. Both the Dal and the Kamgaar Party have welcomed the initiative of Inderjit Gupta.
In the bureaucracy, there is already a move to assign the blame of the law and order situation on either the chief secretary Brijendra Sahai or on the secretary to the Governor, Shashank Shekhar Singh. Singh is a non-IAS officer who has risen to this rank and has been continuously at the receiving end of attacks from IAS officers. The officials of the governors secretariat are working overtime to save Singh. Many others are trying to save Sahai. Both, incidentally, are close to Mulayam.
From the actions of the Governor, no blame can be put on any single person. The whole set up is made and put in place by Mulayam Singh. Bhandari has only rubber stamped it.
The vehemence with which Mulayam Singh and other Samajwadi leaders have defended Bhandari makes it clear that the latter has become much stronger than before. The CPI is in a dilemma. if it goes further, it may have no choice but to come out of the ministry, or face a humiliating climdown.