There’s no guarantee that the Modi charisma will help Adityanath secure another term in office. Tackling corruption and making the babus work remain his biggest tasks

On March 19, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath completed two years in office. As the Model Code of Conduct was in place at that time, he held a Press conference at party office. He declared that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is targetting over 50 per cent votes in the Lok Sabha elections. “If the party can achieve that target, the Samajwadi Party (SP)-Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)-Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) alliance will have no impact and the BJP will win 74 seats,” he had said.

On May 23, when the Lok Sabha results were announced, his one prediction came to be true. The BJP got over 50 per cent of the votes and caste alliance in Uttar Pradesh was decimated. But Yogi missed the second prediction by just nine seats. The BJP and its allies got 64 out of the 80 Lok Sabha seats from Uttar Pradesh but it was enough for the BJP to cross the halfway mark comfortably.

What worked wonders for the party was Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s persona and the magic of people-oriented schemes launched by the Union Government. The BJP, at the party level, ensured that the beneficiaries know that it was Prime Minister Modi, who had given them these benefits. This strategy worked. Anti-incumbency of candidates was blown away by Modi’s charisma. At many places, people were not happy with their party candidates because of non-performance. Still, they voted for Modi as leaders in their meetings specifically pointed out that their one vote will strengthen Modi’s hands at the Centre.

The common refrain for the voters was for the Union Government — they would vote for Modi because they wanted a strong Government at the Centre. The beneficiaries, who availed the benefit of these schemes, chose Modi over others because they reaped the harvest. On the other hand, those who did not avail the benefits voted for Modi in the belief that they will get houses, latrines, free gas or electric connections in the next term.

This scenario is a testing time for Yogi Adityanath. Uttar Pradesh will go to polls to elect its Government in 2022 and by that time, the State Government will have to leave its mark on the people. Yogi is no Modi. If people voted for Modi, it was because they wanted to see him as the country’s next Prime Minister. There is no guarantee that they will vote for Yogi with the same intensity and re-elect him as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.

Therefore, the biggest challenge for Yogi Adityanath is to improve the delivery system and present his Government as pro-active and himself as a Chief Minister whose word hold command. He should ensure his orders are followed to the ‘T’ and reviews of the schemes are done regularly.

The last 25 months’ rule of Yogi Government has been a mix of positives and negatives. It goes without saying that law and order situation has improved. Improvement in infrastructure sector, too, is palpable. The frequency of power outages has gone down. Greenfield Expressways like the Purvanchal Expressway and the Bundelkhand Expressway are destined to transform the impoverished eastern Uttar Pradesh and the rugged Bundelkhand regions. The Defence corridor is expected to bring an employment boom in that area. 

However, the biggest bane of this Government is its failure to check corruption in its working. Despite the BJP’s commitment of giving a corruption-free Government, the reality leaves much to be desired. Departmental postings are not entirely merit based. Merit is being sacrificed on the altar of avarice.

The second biggest letdown for the Yogi Government is its bureaucracy. It has failed to match the pace of the Chief Minister. The Chief Minister is working 16-18 hours a day but the State bureaucracy looks jaded. This results in the failure to implement crucial projects. The Yogi Government is also drawing flak for making big announcements but failing to fulfill them within the stipulated time-frame. In a democracy, political masters take decisions as per their election manifesto but it is the bureaucracy which gives shape to those directives.

Take the case of the Government’s decision to ban plastic, polythene and thermocol. The Chief Minister had announced on July 15, 2018, that Uttar Pradesh would be plastic and polythene-free. Yogi even signed a order saying that thermocol would also be banned in Uttar Pradesh from October 2, 2018. The State bureaucracy was entrusted with the job to ensure that plastic glasses and polythene bags should not be available in the open market. Orders were issued to seal factories where such plastic bags are manufactured. The Government had also said that alternative arrangement should be made available to the people.

But the bureaucracy failed in this task. Once the initial euphoria fizzled out, plastic and polythene made a comeback in the open market. After the High Court pulled the State Government, it became active again in May and on June 3, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath held another round of meeting with officials and asked them to implement the ban in letter and spirit. He even reminded the officials that swachchhata (cleanliness) is the dream project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and it should be implemented in totality. Thus, the ban became a butt of joke among the hoi polloi.

Same is true with the Government’s several other announcements like making roads across Uttar Pradesh gaddha-mukt (pothole-free), distributing of books, sweaters and shoes among the school children in State-run schools, checking bootlegging and ensuring payment of agricultural dues to farmers for producing sugarcane, wheat, paddy and potato whose Minimum Support Price (MSP) is announced by the State Government.

The need of the hour for the Yogi Government is to take strict action, akin to administrative encounters, against its babus like suspension and even giving the lax officers a sack.

As police encounters helped in bringing law and order under control, administrative encounters will help in weeding out non-performing officers. The Chief Minister once tried this by offering VRS to those who have failed to perform. But it did not have the desired result. Government officers from Block Development Officer (BDO) and Lekhpal to District Magistrate and from Seenchpal and Seench Inspectors to doctors in State-run hospitals, whose public interface is high, should be made accountable.

Government’s performance depends on public perception. The public mood is that during BSP chief Mayawati’s regime, the administration was at its best. Even officers vouch that they feared to attend Mayawati’s review meeting because heads were bound to roll.

The time has come for Yogi to send the right signal to the masses. The Chief Minister is going to start a review meeting at the divisional level from June 15. This is the apt time to send the right signals. He must take action against corrupt and non-performing Ministers and officers so that the message can spread across that this BJP Government means business.

(The writer is Executive Director [News] with The Pioneer, Lucknow)