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STATES: UTTAR PRADESH
There's Only One Boss
Rajnath Singh has managed to enhance both his own
image as well as that of his party
By Subhash Mishra
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POWER CENTRE: Rajnath revels in being the mover and shaker
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When Chief Minister Rajnath Singh summarily dismissed
energy minister Naresh Agarwal recently, he had taken more people than
just the controversial Loktantrik Congress Party (LCP) leader by surprise.
The sacking of a powerful cabinet colleague in the run-up to an assembly
election would normally be considered a politically imprudent move, but
Rajnath knew exactly what he was doing. And his hunch, it appears, proved
right.
Far from rallying behind Agarwal, who lost no
time in announcing his withdrawal of support to the BJP-ruled Government,
15 of the LCP's 19 members chose to stand by the chief minister. It was
a credible reaffirmation of faith in Rajnath at a critical juncture. The
chief minister's carefully crafted strategy to refurbish his own sullied
image by acting against those who proved more detrimental had paid off.
It was a marked departure from the please-all practice of election-eve
politics but Rajnath took the gamble and won.
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Eye On The Poll
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By sacking Agarwal, Rajnath has shown the
electorate that he can be decisive and firm, besides projecting
the BJP as a party that does not tolerate corruption.
Has been able to consolidate his position in the
Thakur community, while managing to simultaneously contain the erosion
in Vaishya support which arose from the ousters of Ram Prakash Gupta
and now Agarwal.
Has stolen a march over the BSP and the
Samajwadi Party by implementing job quotas for the Most Backward
Castes.
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To a large extent, it was a move born of desperation.
Of late, Rajnath's 85-member jumbo ministry was becoming more and more
of an embarrassment. A dozen ministers had publicly stood in defence of
dreaded dacoit Dadua last month while some others had attended the marriage
of a relative of Brijesh Singh, another notorious don. Rajnath had also
to contend with the constant rumblings against his government policies.
Recently, 13 ministers had staged a day-long dharna demanding justice
for SC/STs. Agarwal, just back from a 15-day sojourn in Switzerland, chose
to politicise the matter further at a party workers' convention in Hardwar.
Lashing out at the government, he strongly indicted Rajnath for the ongoing
power crisis.
This, it seems, is what provoked the chief minister
to act. Midway through the convention, he issued marching orders to Agarwal.
And just in case his move was perceived to be biased, Rajnath also sent
a terse warning to Markandey Chand, another minister who he believed had
grown too big for his boots.
With his actions eliciting a positive response,
Rajnath has been emboldened. He is now reaching out to the people from
a new platform. A platform from where he claims he will cleanse his government
of criminalisation and corruption. State BJP President Kalraj Mishra too
has been going around saying that "those who do not have a good reputation
will not be fielded again". But it is still a matter of speculation
whether such promises will hold Rajnath and his party in good stead in
the elections.
Clearly, it's not just a question of whether
the people are looking at Rajnath as the no-nonsense, decisive leader
that he is projecting himself to be. In a state like Uttar Pradesh, there
are several other complexities to live with, most important of which is
caste politics. But political observers feel Rajnath is doing well on
this count as well. Emerging as a strong and aggressive Rajput leader
of the BJP, they say, he has already outpaced seniors like Mishra, Om
Prakash Singh and Lalji Tandon. Besides bringing together the strong community
of Thakurs he has lured the Most Backward Castes (MBCs) as well by announcing
reservation in government jobs for them.
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TABLE TURNED: Agarwal was taken by surprise
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The only concern is the continuing support of
the Vaishyas. Rajnath's enthronement at the cost of Ram Prakash Gupta
and the sacking of Agarwal, both Vaishyas, it is believed, could have
antagonised the community, a traditional BJP vote bank, especially in
the urban pockets of the state. The decision to drop a CBI inquiry into
corruption against Agarwal is now being seen as a move to mollify the
Vaishyas.
Thankfully for the BJP, the Opposition doesn't
seem to have taken note. In fact, a confused and directionless Opposition
has made things easier for Rajnath. While Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo
Mulayam Singh Yadav cannot make up his mind whether to focus his energies
on the state or the Centre, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati
is dealing with the growing restlessness in her own cadres. For that matter,
Mulayam's decision to project his son Akhilesh as his successor has also
created unrest among senior SP leaders. Preoccupied with their own problems,
both the SP and the BSP have shown scant interest in Rajnath's manoeuvrings.
As one LCP leader admits, Mulayam could have easily prevented the LCP
from supporting the chief minister following Agarwal's humiliation but
he had failed to recognise the opportunity.
Conversely, the inertia inflicting the Opposition
made it toe the official line in many instances. When Rajnath, for example,
announced the implementation of MBC reservation, both Mulayam and Mayawati
initially made some noises about the impropriety of quotas within quotas.
But when Rajnath went ahead anyway, they changed their stand and welcomed
the move. Also, their decision to field a minimum number of Thakur candidates
in the coming elections is an inadvertent acknowledgement of Rajnath's
clout in the community. Further, these parties have no projected plans
to match, let alone outdo, the chief minister's populist packages.
As part of his drive to cleanse the Government,
Rajnath has announced a string of austerity measures to be implemented
soon. Among them is a sharp cut in the expenses incurred by ministers
and bureaucrats. Newspapers in the state too have started carrying big
advertisements for government jobs, for which the MBC quotas will also
be considered. A pay hike for teachers has already been announced while
sugarcane prices are likely to be enhanced by at least Rs 5 a quintal.
As for the dogged problem of power shortage, Rajnath hopes the special
task force he has constituted to look into the matter will silence critics.
But above all, what he is banking on is his effort to emerge as a decisive
leader in the people's minds.
A master strategist, Rajnath has always made
the right moves at the right time. In 1997, it was he who played a key
role in saving the Kalyan Singh government by weaning away MLAs from the
Janata Dal, the Congress and the BSP. Then in 1998, when the LCP's Jagdambika
Pal mustered the support of small parties, and aided by the more than
helpful governor Romesh Bhandari, ousted Kalyan Singh as chief minister,
it was Rajnath who hurriedly arranged planes for the MLAs to be taken
from Lucknow to Delhi to mount pressure on the Centre to undo Bhandari's
action. Whether his latest game plan to weed out those like Agarwal and
boost his own image translates into electoral gain will be known soon
enough.
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