Actually this has been happening in Uttar Pradesh from some years and it does not appear that the chief of the Samajwadi Party Akhilesh Yadav would muster courage to challenge this syndrome. It would not be an exaggeration to mention that the 2016 pattern was repeated this year in 2021.

In 2016 with the elections for Zila panchayat chairpersons concluding in 74 districts of Uttar Pradesh on January 6 the ruling Samajwadi Party grabbed 60 posts while the BSP, which had claimed to have won majority of Zila panchayat member posts, could only win four seats. SP was in power in Uttar Pradesh and the party made use of administration in the elections.

It obviously implied that the rot had set in much earlier. The only difference between the two elections has been the BJP has added a new element and it is the party has completely politicised the bureaucracy and the police administration. In 2016 the SP had depended on the bureaucrats to help it, but in 2021 elections the BJP coerced them to follow its dictates. This it has done with an eye on the assembly elections that would take place in 2022. The assembly election is immense importance as it would inscribe the fate of Narendra Modi in the general election of 2024 elections.

For BJP and especially for the chief minister Yogi Adityanath conducting this year’s election was like riding a tiger and not a horse. The party needed to send a strong message to the people and more to the bureaucrats that it meant business; winning the 2022 and 2024 elections are its mission. This was the reason that even mayhem did not make the BJP leadership feel sorry and apologise to the people, particularly to the women, who constitute 50 per cent of the voters.

Bureaucrats are the best meteorological devices to test the mood of the people and the inclination of the ruling political dispensation. The bureaucracy in UP has come to know which way the wind is blowing. Precisely it was this realisation that made them adopt aggressive posture against the opposition leaders and even the journalists and even went to the extent of thrashing them.

While Akhilesh Yadav has miserably failed to consolidate the gains his party had achieved in the 2016 panchayat elections, his handling of the opposition politics manifested his utter lack of political understanding and maturity. While he distanced himself from BSP chief Mayawati, she publically deprecated the idea of having understanding with “big” parties. As the chief of the regional party Samajwadi Party he has the right to make any decision, but he must look at the ground realities and formulate any policy in conformity to the prevailing political situation.

No doubt Mayawati has lost much of her relevance in state politics owing to some inherent contradictions and reasons. The main being the CBI and ED sword hanging on her head. Otherwise too she has lost her appeal amongst the Dalits and proletariats. Almost all the leading dalit scholars prefer to maintain distance from her and criticise her for following in the footsteps of the bourgeoise or the Brahminical order. She has been behaving more like a queen of a princely state than being the representative of the aspiration of the poor and Dalits. Truly, she has been endorsing almost all the moves and policies of the BJP and especially of Narendra Modi. She has been scared of confronting Modi as in that situation he would let lose his pets to hound her down.

In fact Akhilesh too has been suffering with this syndrome of pet hounding in Express Bypass case. But he must realise that succumbing to this pressure tactics of Modi would inevitably finish his political career. He has to fight back. How could he forget that CBI or ED or for that matter NIA have lost their credibility in the eyes of the people and judiciary. Why is he scared of going to jail?

His stand against the reprisal and revenge politics of BJP and RSS would bring about a transformation. At least he could realise the importance of practising honest and an accountable politics. We have before us the example of Mamata Banerjee. No doubt some of her close aides are involved in Sarada and Narada scam and even CBI has filed charge sheets against them, she did not allow Amit Shah and Modi to goad her. Her own daughter in law was served notice, but she refused to succumb.

Honest practices, probity and accountability pays. Mamata has emerged as the only face, besides Rahul Gndhi, yet another honest politician, to catch the imagination of the people and emerge as the challenger to the hegemonic politics of Modi.

His stand of not having electoral relation with big parties is also quite intriguing. He must not hide his failure behind the façade of big parties not being responsive or accommodative. He must learn the art of forging alliance with other parties. The other “big” or “small” party has its agenda and priorities, why should Akhilesh expect that it should divorce its priorities simply to help him. Art of managing alliance is the indicator of the good leadership quality.

Yogi has adopted a very aggressive posture and it is clearly manifest in his “declaring” the results of the block pramukh elections on Saturday, pre-empting the state election commission by hours. He has claimed the BJP has won 635 of the 825 seats. He did it even after being aware that the pramukh election is not held on party symbols, and the poll panel does not give party-wise breakups.

Muslims and Jats had never before clashed in the region of western Uttar Pradesh state which otherwise has seen many riots between Hindus and Muslims in the last six decades. It is sad that once again the BJP and RSS have been trying frantically to breach the atmosphere of peace and brotherhood that has been reclaimed. But Akhilesh never took pains to reach out to these people. The fact is he has been keeping himself away from the farmers’ movement

Akhilesh might be having reservation towards the Congress as its working relation with it did not work in 2017 assembly elections. But this is not the tangible reason to severe the ties for ever. It simply underlines the political immaturity of Akhilesh. He should analyse the reasons in proper perspective. He must analyse the reasons for the breaking down of old alliance, shifting of the dalit votes to the BJP, split in the backward cast groups. He is aware that upper caste Brahmins and Dalits have shifted away from the Congress. In the changed situation what should have been done to win over the traditional support base. Simply finding fault is not the good politics.

Akhilesh has done precious enough to win over the support of Chandra Shekhar Aazad, the emerging new face of the dalit politics in the state. With BSP losing its identity, Azad Samaj Party of Chandrasekhar is emerging as the alternative. Azad is already on records of having no qualms in aligning with anybody, provided the objective is to forge a strong alliance to defeat the Yogi Adityanath government.

Chandrashekhar Azad, The Bhim Army chief, in 2020, launched his political outfit Azad Samaj Party, which is seeking to establish itself as a defender of the rights of Dalits, other backward classes and minorities.

He has been highly critical of Mayawati and her brand of politics. He too has been hounded by CBI, but he is undeterred. Accusing the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) of going soft on the Centre for the fear of central probe agencies, Chandra Shekhar pitched his outfit as an alternative to the BSP. He criticises BSP and Mayawati for working against the principles of its founder Kanshi Ram.

Azad stresses; “Our efforts are directed at forging a grand alliance to take on the BJP for the sake of the people. This misrule must come to an end. So a grand alliance should be formed to stop the BJP”. Surprisingly Azad has been at the focus of Mayawati’s attack.

The BJP has already started resorting to its old tried mechanism of fighting terrorism. The UP government said that two terrorists of the Al Qaeda-supported Ansar Ghazwatul Hind had been arrested by its Anti-Terror Squad from the outskirts of Lucknow on Sunday. They were planning explosions, including using "human bombs", at several places in Uttar Pradesh, according to the police. (IPA Service)