Senior ranking bureaucrats are in a huddle in Uttar Pradesh (UP), with a fierce electoral fight testing the waters of incumbent Yogi Adityanath government. Can the state if can tide over it?
From ordering the renovation of roads to the beautification of parks, public places and bungalows of opposition leaders, Akhilesh Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav, there seems to be chitchats and murmurs in the power corridor on who probably can be the contender on March 10th when the results for the five state assembly polls are announced.
Maybe, due to people’s dissatisfaction and disgruntlement against the governance and policy planning of incumbent chief minister (CM) Yogi Adityanath, these officials might have reached this inference, as for a tiring and never-ending tussle for settling personal scores in the party.
Secondly, Yogi’s political inefficiency and ineptness in dealing with the shortcomings of legislations, may also work against him.
As for the challenger, Yadav junior, he effortlessly and enthusiastically aroused and persuaded the public sentiments and sensibilities. From shasan (administration) and vyavastha (systems), to rozgaar (employment) and swasthya (health), he didn’t mention Yogi’s syllabus, which had keywords like by katta (weapons), Jinnah, charbi (flesh) and gareebi (poverty).
Thus, Yadav was the ultimate beneficiary of whatever was said and spoken against him.
However, writing off Yogi will be naive, because of the privilege and patronage he enjoys being the seer of the Gorakhpur temple, apart from his strong agenda on reviving and resurrecting the Hindu faith and wisdom. Also, the Ayodhya judgment was passed leading to the construction of Ram mandir beginning, with much pomp and show, during his tenure as the CM of UP.
In this regard, it would be important to see the performance of Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party finding a mention in the speeches of prime minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah, rescuing the Bhartiya Janata Party, in case they fall short. Aligning with her would be a natural choice due to their excellent rapport.
Secondly, Yadav who has been faring poorly, electorally, will have a lot on his shoulders, to pull and push the Samajwadi Party, but will he be able to do that? Bureaucrats can only glance at the political happenings from a distance, and second guess themselves.