MP elections: Maya Vs Uma and the angry electorate

SLIPPING IN: Mayawati has made forays into Bundelkhand but may not be a significant threat as yet to the top players

          

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New Delhi: Mayawati may be the queen-bee in Uttar Pradesh politics. She is even a potential king-maker in Delhi.

Now in areas of Madhya Pradesh bordering the state of Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati is trying to extend the influence of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). She is beginning with places like Bundelkhand.

In the last election the BSP chief managed to get 5 per cent votes.

This is also the area where Uma Bharti is active. Between the Uma Bharti, the sanyasin and the dalit ki beti Mayawati, there are many who are looking at the emergence of an alternate front in the state’s politics.

It may not necessarily be a huge dent that the local players need to fear, though.

In the last assembly election too the BSP and another important regional player, the Gondwana Gantantra party tried to make an impact, but it didn’t work.

Caste based politics is not the only common factor between UP and these adjoining parts of MP.

The deteriorating internal security scenario is another similarity.

In UP, post the Babri demolition the entire political discourse changed.

In MP, in the last one year itself links have been established with almost all major terror groups.

Rajeev Kumar, the Inspector General of police gives an insight into the reasons for the roots of terror.

“ Well, so far this was a place which was perceived to be extremely peaceful. You must understand that we are surrounded from all sides with states that are extremely problematic. Chattisgarh has a huge naxal problem, so is the case with Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. But we have formed a very effective anti-terror squad to deal with terrorists here."

Is MP too going to be hit by the rise of terror network as UP already is, then one wonders.

“There are three kinds of terror that we have dealt with in our state. The dacoits, we have got rid of them. Practically every gang has been eliminated. Then there were naxalites and we have dealt with them with a very firm hand. Now there are all these other groups, the lashkar (LeT), the jaish (JeM), where there have been some instances of people being linked to the state. But I won’t say that the situation is very alarming,” said Rajeev Kumar.

Within the social structure of MP, anger and its expression in extreme form seem to be settling in.

The murder of a professor in broad daylight shocked the nation. Professor Sabarwal was attacked inhumanly in the college campus in Ujjain.

State chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan chooses to remain silent on the issue of sadhavi Pragya Thakur.

Is Hindutva blurring the lines between the BJP and the Congress, many ask.

The two parties are ideologically and politically poles apart.

In this election season, ironically driving themselves through the same thread, the Congress and BJP are struggling to find a wave to ride on.

In Bhojshala, it is the same aggression and defiance which has led to the creation of yet another controversial complex.

The controversial Bhojshala Kamal Maula complex is in the eye of the storm. Historians say that the Kamal Maula complex was built by an aid to Allaudin Khilji in the 13 th century. Yet the place till almost 1935 was known as just Bhojshala before being renamed as Bhojshala Kamal Maula complex. Last time around, Uma Bharti converted this into a huge talking point. In 2008, the battle for religion has been overshadowed by the war on terror.

Hindutva, development and terror are the three issues which have dominated the election trail in MP.

These three are also in some ways linked to each other. Whoever managed to further build on the complex relation between the three, will be the one who will end up occupying the chief ministers chair in the Madhya Pradesh vidhan sabha.