SP and BSP will have to meet in Uttar Pradesh, if you want to save UP
After the Babri Masjid demolition on 6 December 1992, when the aggressive politics of BJP was at its peak in UP, suddenly the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party changed the whole politics by announcing the coming together. Dalits and backwards were coming together for the first time in Indian politics. Then this slogan became very popular that ‘Mile Mulayam Kanshi Ram, Hawa Mein Ud Gayye Jai Shri Ram’. Indeed, this alliance formed the government in UP, giving a blow to the plans of the BJP. It is a different matter that in the coming years, SP-BSP parted fighting among themselves in a very clumsy manner and Kalyan Singh got an opportunity to break into afresh. But despite this BJP could not come to power on its own for 15 years. In 2007, people gave absolute majority to Mayawati and in 2012 to Akhilesh Yadav.
But after 18 years, now the BSP is promising to build a temple, then the Samajwadi Party is going to hold a Brahmin convention. Obviously, the politics that they had come out to blow in the air in the name of Jai Shri Ram, forced them to smell the ground. But will this changed strategy work for these parties? Both the parties feel that if they get the support of Brahmins apart from their traditional base, they will be able to defeat the BJP. But are the Brahmins of UP so naive that they will leave their homes and go to their courtyard, following the call of Mayawati’s lieutenant Satish Mishra or being fascinated by the Brahmin convention of SP? Even if he is angry with Ajay Singh Bisht – that is, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, then at most he will find a solution by staying within the BJP. From now on, BJP has started trying to remove their misery. One of the visions behind Congress’s inclusion of Jitin Prasad in the BJP has also been to please the Brahmins. So the danger is that in the name of support, the leaders claiming Brahmin votes should collect a reasonable price from both SP and BSP and then return to their homes too.
In fact, Mayawati feels that she got the majority of 2007 due to Brahmins. It is true that in those days there were slogans like ‘Hathi Baddha Jayega, Brahmin Shankh Bajga’ and Mayawati had given enough tickets to Brahmins. But the situation then and now is different. Then the wave of Hindu politics had weakened and the Brahmins realized that they would have to hand over someone else to share power. But when the order to build the temple has come, donations have been collected in the name of temple construction and the Hindutva wave is presenting its claim with new aggression, then it is too far-fetched to think that Brahmins will accept that BSP Only the temple will be able to be built or the SP will respect the Brahmins.
However, it can be said that when there is a vote-ban in parliamentary politics on the basis of caste identities, then why should the BSP or SP not have the right to spread their mass base? If they are promising to hold a Brahmin convention or to build a Supreme Court-approved Ram temple, what is wrong with it. After all, the BSP has been coordinating with the BJP in the past too.
But there is a difference between the earlier and the now. Kanshi Ram was very clear that he will not compromise on the identity of BSP with whomever he compromises. He had the stamina to join hands with the Congress and the BJP even after describing them as Sampnath and Nagnath. Because he was acceptable to every compromise that brings BSP closer to power. They knew that if they get power, Dalits will get their status. It was a result of his politics that only after his death – but Mayawati could become the Chief Minister of the country’s largest state. It is a different matter that the foolish decision to install his own idols in the parks of UP cost him dearly, in return for which he had to lose his power. After all, how could those who avoided the shadow of Dalits be able to bear their idols in the park?
The same thing can be said with the Samajwadi Party. Despite all the allegations, Mulayam Singh Yadav remained a socialist of his kind. Of course, during the later period of his Chief Ministership, the SP was also seen sitting in the lap of the stars and sometimes the bourgeoisie from where its downfall began. But the mandate that Akhilesh Yadav got in 2012 was a mandate of hope for a new beginning. Why it disintegrated in the next five years should be investigated separately.
But if Maya-Akhilesh are thinking that they will stop the BJP by invoking temples and Brahmins, then they are cheating on themselves and with their issues. It is true that at present there is deep discontent in UP against the Yogi government. Especially in the era of Kovid, everyone is angry with the way the government’s failure came to the fore. There is a feeling within the BJP itself that people are angry with the government. But this displeasure will not turn into votes with any prescription – past experiences confirm this.
In fact, whenever a political party goes by its basic instincts and takes a decision under any political pressure, it usually does not get public approval. The BJP, which talked about Gandhian socialism in 1980, was badly beaten in 1984. When the Left, which was ruling Bengal for decades, started building Singur’s factory and Nadigram’s hub, its meaning got raised. When Rajiv Gandhi, who was facing charges of Muslim appeasement after the Shah Bano case, tried to woo the Hindus by opening the locks of the Ram temple, the BJP took advantage of it.
So if SP-BSP chants temple and Brahmin, then BJP will also get the benefit of it. After all, people would prefer to choose genuine goods over the temple issue, not fake ones. Secondly, then these elections will be on exactly those issues on which BJP wants. Then this will be the ground where SP-BSP will prove to be novices in front of BJP.
What is the way then? The same which was taken by both the parties wholeheartedly in 1993 and half-heartedly in 2019. In fact, if the BJP and its divisive agenda are to be stopped, then that Dalit-Backward mobilization will have to be brought back in UP, which can eventually become a reason for reassurance for the weaker sections of the country. This mobilization will be accompanied by minorities and both can welcome Brahmins or forwards if they want.
Rather, the support of RLD in UP may be more important this time. The farmers’ movement has changed the attitude of the RLD. He is stronger than ever. Apart from this, she is going to hold a brotherhood conference so that the Hindu-Muslim rift created after the 2013 riots can be bridged. SP or BSP will also have to make their way through similar brotherhood. The trouble is that in the last few years the likes of Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav are losing their trust. Many a times, doubts have also arisen whether they are under pressure from central agencies. In fact, Akhilesh-Maya should have been the architect of what Mamata is trying to connect the opposition in Delhi these days. But as if their politics is lost or sleeping somewhere and now it is awakened, then it has come out to awaken the Brahmins.
The question is also that if Akhilesh-Maya come together then who will become the Chief Minister? But in today’s coalition politics the answer is also not difficult. There are examples of running the government from UP to Jammu and Kashmir for half the term. Of course, there has also been political fraud, but this experiment will have to be tried anew.
The 2022 UP elections are going to be very important. If Yogi Adityanath wins in this, then the communal politics of the Sangh-Parivar will be somewhat more intense and in 2024, Yogi may try to be a contender for some other position. It sounds airy now, but as much as it seemed in 2010 that Narendra Modi would leave Gujarat and become the prime ministerial candidate by forcibly putting his guru Advani in the Margdarshak Mandal.
But the chariot of this politics has to be stopped in UP itself. This work is not done by anyone alone. This time can only be done by burying our political conflicts, leaving behind the experiences of the past, creating a blueprint for the politics of the future. In such a blueprint, not the temple, but the idea of social harmony should be the most important thing. If the heirs of Mulayam-Kanshi Ram meet, then the communal desire of social polarization will be defeated.
