The book offers an insight into the socio-political fabric of Uttar Pradesh while highlighting the political psyche of the three Ps — people, parties, and politicians — writes Tavishi Srivastava
Battleground UP
Author: Manish Tiwari and Rajan Pandey
Publisher: Tranquebar, Rs 350
Politics in Uttar Pradesh seems to be spinning like a top. As soon as the Assembly polls got completed, all political parties pulled up the garters for the lok Sabha elections. Battleground UP: Politics in the land of Ram, authored by Manish Tiwari and Rajan Pandey, offers an insight into the socio-political fabric of the State while highlighting the political psyche of the three Ps — people, parties, and politicians of the Hindi heartland.
The book sketches a vivid description of the mannerisms of each political party and its strategies of luring voters. It details the alternate succession to the Uttar Pradesh throne by the two regional parties — Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Samajwadi Party (SP). Further, it also narrates the historic victory of the BSP in 2007 Assembly elections in which Mayawati could secure an overwhelming majority.
Both the SP and the BSP have a domineering presence in Uttar Pradesh that has pushed the two national parties — the BJP and the Congress — to the margins. The saffron surge during the Ram Mandir wave which had led to the BJP’s coronation has gradually waned over the years. Similarly, the Congress’s performance dipped to an all-time low after the party restricted its activities to its VIP pocket boroughs — Rae Bareli and Amethi.
Manish and Rajan set out to explore the political environs of the State. They make three eventful journeys across the expanses between March 27, 2011, and March 3, 2013, by train and bike, covering 15,000 km and spanning over 350 constituencies in 60 districts. They aptly describe, “The journeys helped us grasp regional differences as well social, cultural, political, ecological and historical legacies of the State... Some people thought we had been sent by Rahul Gandhi to assess the UP scenario, while others believed that we were emissaries of Nitin Gadkari who had sent us to make a survey for the suitable candidates for the Assembly polls.”
The book begins with the political rallies during the 2012 Assembly elections and highlights their significance as well as talks about how the SP took a lead defeating the BSP in the polls. The next chapter focuses on the reasons for the BSP’s defeat from the historic 220 seats to the present 80, and outlines the Dalit-Bahujan movement which had led to its emergence in the first place. The book also details how political rallies in India have been traditionally looked upon as the yardstick to determine the credibility of a party and popularity of a leader. The highlights of rallies by the BSP, BJP and Congress as well as the speeches delivered by the leaders present a picture of the tone and tenor of the respective parties.
The book outlines the SP’s bumpy road facing both success and failure down the years. Moreover, it also discusses the role of the party heavyweight Amar Singh, who was once favoured by SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav only to be cold shouldered and eventually left out in the lurch. Mulayam’s son Akhilesh arose to power in the 2012 Assembly polls. It outlines how Congress was in a disarrayed state and Rahul Gandhi failed to stabilise it. Ironically, Mayawati’s Dalit-Bahujan agenda was changed to Sarva Samaj with the Brahmins occupying an important position.
A fresh insight discusses the reasons for the BSP’s defeat in the 2012 Assembly elections, primarily how the party’s hobnobbing with big businessmen cost it enough. Apparently, corruption multiplied as the State exchequer spent huge amounts on the construction of Mayawati’s statues and sprawling parks were set up. The National Rural Health Mission scam with gruesome killings of several Chief Medical Officers over money and politics, proved to be the final nail in the BSP’s coffin. The slogan during the 2012 Assembly elections reportedly said that the then BSP regime was dominated by three M’s — money, mafia and media.
The social engineering formula is interesting as it highlights the caste politics as well as the new variants of minority politics. Mohammed Azam Khan, who was looked upon as the saviour of Muslims post-Babri Masjid’s demolition in Ayodhya, developed proximity with Mulayam Singh. It is equally interesting to read the slogans used by each party to propagate its policies. look at the BSP’s initial slogan of “Tilak, taraju aur talwar, inko maro joote char”, which got transformed over the years to “Haathi nahi ganesh hai, Brahma Vishnu Mahesh hai”. Today, the party has changed the slogan from Bahujan to Sarva Samaj. The caste factor brings an interesting understanding that people don’t cast their votes in Uttar Pradesh; rather, they vote for their caste!
Facets of different politicians, be it as a Dalit messiah or a firebrand OBC leader — from Mulayam to Mayawati to Uma Bharti — all have been discussed. Politicians with their own tryst with the law, such as Hari Shankar Tiwari, Amarmani Tripathi and Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya have also been written about. With the 2014 lok Sabha elections round the corner, surely the book will come in handy for politicians, journalists as well the young voters keen to have quick understanding of the politics of Uttar Pradesh.