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BJP’s worst show since 1991 : Knives out for Rajnath Singh

	May 14, 2007

In the BJP, knives are out for party president Rajnath Singh in the wake of the outfit’s worst defeat since 1991. The possibility of the BJP emerging at the top in the elections was bleak in any case. As it turned out, even a fractured Muslim vote did not help the BJP which put up its worst show since 1991.



As the BJP Parliamentary Board assesses the party’s worst ever drubbing in Uttar Pradesh, party president Rajnath Singh refused to take the blame. Addressing a news conference in New Delhi on May 11, he said, “What responsibility ? We do concede defeat. The results are shocking and unprecedented. We will probe and rectify our shortcomings.”



But many senior party leaders did not mince words in blaming him for what they called a “deliberate” absence of a clear strategy to project the party as the real alternative to the Samajwadi party. Nothing was done to woo the Brahmins after Mayawati fielded 86 candidates belonging to that caste, they said. The result : the Brahmin community chose to plug for the BSP and 60 of these candidates won.



They said that Atal Bihari Vajpayee - arguably the tallest Brahmin leader in the party - as well as other leaders like Murli Manohar Joshi and Kalraj Mishra were not used to their optimum. Even the rallies of Hindutva poster boy Narendra Modi were curtailed on the plea that they would upset the BJP allies.



Secondly, the BJP leaders blamed Rajnath Singh for renominating all the sitting MLAs because of their personal loyalty to him, despite vocal opposition from Kalyan Singh. They said that Kalyan’s projection as the party’s chief ministerial candidate was lukewarm due to old rivalry. What was worse, Kalyan Singh had already lost his appeal among the backward castes as the general impression was that he was discreetly hobnobbing with Mulayam Singh Yadav.







BJP forced to condemn “communal” CD



Complying with an Election Commission order, the BJP on May 11, the day the Uttar Pradesh election results came out, condemned the communal CD released during the election campaign by its leader Lalji Tandon.



In a statement, the BJP said the Election Commission had on May 8 asked it to come out with an unequivocal and unambiguous declaration by May 15 that it strongly condemned the CD. It said: “The party has no hesitation in doing so. In consonance with its stand that the party had suo motu taken action before notice was issued by the EC and the stand taken by it before the EC, the party categorically declares that it does not approve of the contents of the said CD. It strongly condemns the same.”



The controversy arose after Tandon released the CD just ahead of the Uttar Pradesh polls. A section of the media reported that the contents of the CD, which the party planned to distribute widely as part of its campaign, were highly provocative and communal.



The BJP immediately said it had withdrawn the CD, that it was not part of the party’s campaign, and that Tandon had released it inadvertently. However, party leaders continued to defend the matter in the CD, a fact that the Commission noted while demanding that the party condemn its contents.







Mulayam blames Election Commission



Till the last, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav refused to see the writing on the wall showing that poor law and order is going to result in his Government’s ouster. He refused to accept the fact that the worsening law and order situation in the State could translate into defeat at the polls.



As Mayawati focussed her entire campaign on the “goonda raj” in the State, the advertisement featuring Amitabh Bachchan with its punchline, “UP mein hain dum, kiyonki zurm yahan hai kum”, (UP has the guts, because there is less crime here) boomeranged specially on Mulayam. The outgoing Chief Minister though went out blaming the Election Commission for his misfortunes.



Observers say the reason why Mulayam Singh blamed the Election Commission was because his gun-toting brigade did not get the free run it enjoyed in the past. “When all the parties were fighting me, the Commission too joined them. It crossed all boundaries to harm me,” a dejected Mulayam said.



Even in defeat, Mulayam failed to accept that he could have been wrong when he said, “I was under the impression that people liked the development work taken up by my government, but now I think people failed to understand the policies of my government.”



Mulayam Singh Yadav accused the Election Commission of plotting his party’s defeat in the Assembly elections. “The measures adopted by the Commission deterred Samajwadi voters from casting their votes”, he told reporters after submitting his resignation to Governor T.V. Rajeshwar, on May 11. Many names were missing from the voters’ list, as a result of which the SP supporters could not exercise their franchise.



Reflecting on his party’s loss, Mulayam Singh said that henceforth it would be the SP versus the BSP as the BJP and the Congress had been virtually sidelined.





Heads of Government units quit



The Chairmen and Advisors of State government undertakings appointed by the Mulayam Singh Yadav Government resigned from their posts on May 12. Notable among those who put in their papers were the chairman of the high-profile Uttar Pradesh Development Council (UPDC) Amar Singh and chairman of the U.P. Rajya Kisan Mandi Parishad Shivpal Singh. The chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Agro, Natthu Singh; the Adviser, Higher Education, Rajnikant Verma; and the chairman of the U.P. Nagarik Parishad (Citizen’s Board), Om Pal Singh “Nidar” were among the others who resigned.



The UPDC headed by the Samajwadi Party general secretary was easily the most sought-after State undertaking set up when Mulayam Singh became Chief Minister in 2003. The Development Council was established the same year, with Amar Singh roping in his friends in industry, information technology, education, health and films as members.



Those who were drafted as members were: Ramdas M. Pai, Adi Godrej, Anil Dhirubhai Ambani, Kumaramangalam Birla, K.V. Kamath, Pratap C. Reddy, Nandan M. Nilekeni, Subrata Roy Sahara, S.H. Khan and film actor Amitabh Bachchan.



With the regime change, the fate of the UPDC hangs in the balance. It is almost certain that its members may also quit. Speculation is rife that the council will be disbanded and a new avatar will take its place.





Industry : losers and gainers



With the change of guard in UP, it is not just an exit cue for Mulayam Singh Yadav, but also hard times for those who may have flourished in Raj Mulayam. It may also alter the ambitious business plans of some leading members of corporate India including the Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (R-ADAG), sugar baron Kushagra Bajaj, Sahara India, Ansal Properties and Infrastructure (APIL), Flex and HFCL. There are the obvious gainers such as infrastructure major Jaypee Group.



Under the Mulayam Singh regime, R-ADAG company RNRL bagged the ambitious Rs 10,000-crore power project in Dadri in 2004. The 3,500 MW plant is pegged to be the world’s largest gas-based power project.



Another group company, Reliance Energy (REL), is setting up a 600-MW coal-based power project in Shahjahanpur. Things could change now. Mayawati has been one of the most vocal opponents of the Dadri project, alleging a major land scam in the process against UPSIDC chairman Amar Singh.



Another prominent industrial house to have made hay in Mulayam Singh Yadav’s government was Bajaj Hindusthan. Its MD Kushagra Bajaj leveraged his proximity with Amar Singh to acquire the Pratappur Sugar Mills in eastern UP and was the prime contender to buy all the 24 State-owned sugar mills put up for sale by the UP government. Despite being on the block for more than two years, the sale has not materialised so far, in the wake of opposition from Mayawati and others.



Sources say Thursday’s raids on UFlex and HFCL need to be seen as an indication of things to come. Both Uflex chairman Ashok Chaturvedi and HFCL’s Vinay Maloo are known to be Amar Singh’s close associates and have huge business interests in UP. Together, Amar Singh and Maloo also own an oil company, Ensearch.



On the gainers’ side, it is the integrated infrastructure conglomerate Jaypee group which looks most likely to gain. The group had bagged the Rs 6,000-crore Taj expressway project during Mayawati’s previous regime, which was the biggest project awarded by it.





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Mulayam’s last minute decisions



In a last minute decision, Mulayam Singh Yadav, a couple of days before laying down office as Chief Minister, recommended to Governor T.V. Rajeshwar, that CBI may be given the sanction for prosecuting Mayawati in the Taj Corridor case. The case has been listed for May 15 in a Lucknow court. Whether the court takes cognizance of the charge is contingent upon CBI getting statutorily mandated prosecution sanction.



The Governor has so far not responded to the request from the CBI. Interestingly, the agency itself was reluctant to move in the Taj corridor case till it was asked by the Supreme Court to do so. The BSP chief had cut off ties with the BJP over the same case which involved the decision to build a corridor around the Taj monument in disregard of the guidelines of the Environment Ministry and the Archeological Survey of India.



In another controversial move, the Samajwadi Party government called a special session of the State Assembly on May 9 to pass a Bill granting minority status to the Mohd. Ali Jauhar University at Singoor, in Rampur, the constituency of the then Urban Development Minister Azam Khan. The Bill makes Azam Khan life-long Chancellor of the University. The session of the lame-duck House was boycotted by the Opposition which called it illegal. The session lasted only 25 minutes with the University Bill being the only agenda.



In a parting gift for his native village, Saifai, the State Cabinet presided over by Mulayam Singh Yadav at its meeting on May 9 sanctioned Rs. 10 crore for some projects in the village.