This refers to Aditi Phadnis’ article “Mayawati’s exchange programme” (The Beat, December 12). To say Mayawati’s single-point agenda is the interests of the Dalits is to ignore the opportunistic nature of our politicians, whose main agenda is power and the sub-agenda is creating and nurturing their vote-banks. Mayawati is no exception.
Mayawati formed the government in Uttar Pradesh in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), but ultimately supported the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in the foreign direct investment in retail vote on the pretext of keeping the BJP out of power, even though there was no such possibility. In Uttar Pradesh, she initially posed to be a leader of the Dalits, or the “bahujan samaj” — on which her party is also named. But following her failed alliances with the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the BJP, she posed to be a leader of the “sarvajan samaj” (or, the people of all communities). She came to power on the strength of both — the Dalit and the non-Dalit votes.
The writer has observed that Mayawati wants to ensure that SP leader Mulayam Singh’s dreams of riding to victory on a Third-Front bandwagon in 2014 remain unfulfilled, and hence, she needs a new pan-India slogan for the Dalits — “reservations in promotions”. But that this slogan would work for her in the national election is doubtful. Having said that, irrespective of whatever the Congress claims, the government bargained Mayawati’s vote in the Rajya Sabha on the promise of bringing the Bill for “reservations in promotions” in government services — to which the SP is strongly opposed. It was evident from the government’s decision to introduce the Bill in the Rajya Sabha the very next day. The SP has played an important role in saving the day for the government in the Lok Sabha and would certainly take its pound of flesh.
The UPA government, surviving on the support of such “demanding” parties, has a tough time ahead.
M C Joshi Lucknow
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