The past month saw some hectic activity in Uttar Pradesh, with the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) at the ntre unsuccessfully trying to get the Mulayam Singh Yadav regime dismissed and President’s Rule imposed. Relations between the UPA’s chief constituent, the Congress, and the Samajwadi Party have never been cordial and he Congress clamoured for President’s Rule following the discovery of human skeletons in Nithari in Noida, Uttar radesh. But the party’s lack of understanding of Thakur politics stood exposed.
Its chief coalition ally, the CPI(M), opposed any such dismissal but BJP president Rajnath Singh declared his party would support Central rule if the Congress were really serious. The Congress’ lack of strength in the Assembly was a factor and BJP support was crucial. But wily Mulayam got his party secretary, Amar Singh, to convince BJP leader Bhairon Singh Shekhawat in a Thakur-to-Thakur talk that it was quite unnecessary for the saffron party to up the ante at a time when its prospects had started looking up in UP and that the Congress would never return the favour. Shekhawat then sounded party colleague Jaswant Singh and the Thakurfoursome of Shekhawat, Amar, Jaswant and Rajnath reached a compromise.
Vol 1,Issue 1 | April 2007
