Thursday, December 14, 2006

Mulayam Rule: Countdown Has Started

With most of the major rival political parties openly coming in favour of President's Rule in the UP, guns have finally been drawn at Mulayam Singh Yadav and his Samajwadi Party's three year rule in the State. The matter has reached the attention of Honourable President of India and it is a matter of days before a decision is taken in this regard.
Naturally, it is a cause of concern for Mulayam, already undergoing a fierce litmus test for credibility owing to escalating law and order problems in the State and charges of rigging during the recently concluded civic elections. Incumbency too is a major factor. Naturally, Mulayam would love to have the elections conducted under his own Government rather than under the rule of a Governor, against whom several duels, though thankfully restricted to verbal assaults only, have already been fought.
Consequently, Mulayam has gone on offensive. He and his loyal aides have not only opened a front against TV Rajeshwar Rao, the present Governor, but also dared the UPA Government to enforce President's Rule in the State. "If the President's Rule is imposed in the State, the UPA Government at Centre too would crumble," said the CM in a rally recently. Speaking to party workers, Mulayam alleged that some political parties took recourse to the Raj Bhawan to oust him, after they got a humiliating defeat in the recently concluded elections. These Governments should understand that elections are not won, courtesy the bureaucracy, Mulayam said. If that is so why does Mulayam want to have the elections conducted when he is in command of the State's bureaucracy? The recent suspension of Kanpur SSP has given the signals to the bureaucracy that it would not tolerate if they went against the party's objectives. This is to be remembered that rumour mongers are having a field day after suspension of the SSP and they are citing a link between his suspension with the incidents related to the defaming of Dr. Ambedkar's statue in Kanpur and the subsequent events that followed. The State administration has given a different reason though. Not just Congress alone, but BSP and BJP too have aimed their salvos at ouster of Mulayam. BSP leader Mayawati has even met the President in this regard and has claimed that free and fair elections cannot be held in the State if Mulayam remains in power. She labeled the accusation that lot of unfair practices were used during the recently concluded civic elections and even called the SP rule in the State as jungle raj where criminals roamed freely.
Consequently, Mulayam has gone on offensive. He and his loyal aides have not only opened a front against TV Rajeshwar Rao, the present Governor, but also dared the UPA Government to enforce President's Rule in the State. "If the President's Rule is imposed in the State, the UPA Government at Centre too would crumble," said the CM in a rally recently.
Speaking to party workers, Mulayam alleged that some political parties took recourse to the Raj Bhawan to oust him, after they got a humiliating defeat in the recently concluded elections. These Governments should understand that elections are not won, courtesy the bureaucracy, Mulayam said.
If that is so why does Mulayam want to have the elections conducted when he is in command of the State's bureaucracy? The recent suspension of Kanpur SSP has given the signals to the bureaucracy that it would not tolerate if they went against the party's objectives. This is to be remembered that rumour mongers are having a field day after suspension of the SSP and they are citing a link between his suspension with the incidents related to the defaming of Dr. Ambedkar's statue in Kanpur and the subsequent events that followed. The State administration has given a different reason though.
Not just Congress alone, but BSP and BJP too have aimed their salvos at ouster of Mulayam. BSP leader Mayawati has even met the President in this regard and has claimed that free and fair elections cannot be held in the State if Mulayam remains in power. She labeled the accusation that lot of unfair practices were used during the recently concluded civic elections and even called the SP rule in the State as jungle raj where criminals roamed freely.
Congress's Sri Prakash Jaiswal too has gone on to attack the UP Government recently. The same feelings were aired by Salman Khursheed on his recent visit to Lucknow. And BJP's Rajnath Singh and Kalyan Singh too have voiced their concerns and demanded the President's Rule. Clearly, an atmosphere is being built against SP and Mulayam so that playing the role of a victim Mulayam does not end up gaining from the imposition of President's Rule. Mulayam's position is weak because neither of the major parties in the State is on his side. Realizing this, he has gone on to attack the Governor's office directly and has even asked the President to call the Governor back. He said that UP was 26 th in terms of crime and the situation in several States ruled by Congress and BJP was worse. Further he talked of a nefarious link between the Governor and the State Home Minister, who hails from UP.
All said and done, Mulayam too knows that the days are numbered for him as the Chief Minister. The only thing that he wishes to do now is to try to get the maximum benefit out of the situation. The dictat to oust him could be issued any moment now!

Crosser:
BJP is readying itself to make corruption the main issue. It is going to open the Front in Parliament as well in State Assembly. Of course, the matter would also be fought on streets. The internal assessment of the BJP think-tank is that if they are able to portray this issue properly, they would gain at least 20-25 seats in the forthcoming Assembly elections.

Box:
President Rule may prove to be a blessing in disguise for Mulayam. All the misdeeds and shortcomings of the three-year rule may get overshadowed when Mulayam and his party men will play the victims. What’s more, if a major incident of law and order happens during the President Rule, Mulayam will get an opportunity to start agitation against the Governor, who has already faced attack from Mulayam on several occasions in the past.

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