Kanshi Ram withdraws his threat to Mulayam Singh Government
Kanshi Ram withdraws his threat to the Mulayam Singh Government.
When BSP supporters wended their way to the party's "antidefection rally" in Lucknow on July 10, the question on everybody's lips was: will Kanshi Ram really announce the withdrawal of the BSP's support to the Mulayam Singh Yadav Government? When the time came, however, the BSP supremo chose discretion over drama.
The buildup to the anti-climax started the day before the rally when Kanshi Ram threatened to sound Yadav's political death-knell at a news conference. "It all depends on what I decide tonight," Kanshi Ram said. "Tomorrow could well be the last day of Yadav's Government."
Yet, when the much awaited tomorrow came, Kanshi Ram spoke of everything but withdrawing support. By the time his speech ended, the about-face seemed almost complete.
"Go back to your homes," Kanshi Ram told the rallyists, "and strengthen Mulayam Singh's hand to defeat the intentions of Brahminical forces."
The climbdown notwithstanding, the incident once again proved how hopelessly Kanshi Ram holds Yadav over the barrel. More importantly, it marked a new low in the steadily deteriorating relations between the BSP and the SP. the two partners in the seven-month-old Uttar Pradesh Government.
Indications of the strain were obvious even at the press conference on the eve of the "anti-defection" rally. Throughout the conference, Kanshi Ram chose to refer to Yadav as usne and usse instead of the more respectful unse.
Yadav, who returned to Lucknow from Bombay just as Kanshi Ram was addressing the press, rushed to the state guest house in a huff and was closeted with the BSP chief for nearly two hours.
The gravity of Kanshi Ram's statement was not lost on Yadav. All the district officials were sent radio messages on the night of July 9 to ensure that SP MLAs were in Lucknow on July 11 for an emergency legislature party meeting.
At the same time, Yadav sought to appease the BSP chief by making sure that former education minister Masood Ahmed - who was leading a significant group of dissident BSP MLAs against the party's controversial leader, Mayawati - vacated the official ministerial residence by 11 p.m., as was reportedly desired by Kanshi Ram.
Even if Kanshi Ram decided to hold his fire at the rally, he did not mince his words. He claimed to have cornered Yadav on the question of engineering defections in the BSP through Ahmed, whom he labelled a 'Jhootha Musalman' (False Muslim).
Yadav, he claimed, had conceded that some of the SP ministers had been in touch with Ahmed and other BSP ministers, though just to "curb Mayawati's dominance". Said Kanshi Ram: "He assured me that he never wanted any defections in the BSP. I said, don't try it or you will pay for it."
All the warnings, however, may not be enough to stop Yadav from working out a defence plan for the future. Says a senior minister: "Now we have to sit with a pen and paper and see how the head count will add up to give us a government without the BSP."
That exercise, in fact, started on June 9. The SP has 127 MLAs in a house of 425, and the support of 32 Congress(I) MLAs besides six from the Janata Dal, three from the Left Front and seven of the 10 independent MLAs.
This means that without the BSP's support, Yadav's Government would be 38 MLAs short of the required bare majority figure of 213. Ahmed claims to have the support of 44 of a total of 70 BSP MLAs, on whom the SP will have to count if things come to such a pass.
Meanwhile, Yadav's torment continues unabated. Recently, Kanshi Ram made it clear what was not to his party's "liking", and chastised the Uttar Pradesh Government for ignoring the BSP's demand to change the "Brahminical" administrative set-up, thus dragging the state's Chief Secretary, T.S.R. Subramaniam, into the controversy.
"Though I do not want to comment on any statement made by a political functionary," says Subramaniam, "I can assure you that we will not allow anybody to discolour the neutral face of the bureaucracy."
Not surprisingly, Yadav is facing heat from within his party to retaliate against the BSP's abrasive ways. Till now Yadav has been avoiding a confrontation. Which is why he persuaded his party to avoid direct reference to the state of the alliance during the SP's three-day national executive committee meeting in Nainital last fortnight.
Though a dozen national executive members wanted to raise the issue of the BSP's bullying tactics and the harm done to the SP's image by the provocative statements of its leaders, Yadav squashed the move.
With support from Kanshi Ram now appearing distinctly uncertain, Yadav is left with no alternative but to try and ensure that he is better placed the next time round.
In Nainital, Yadav had said: "The alliance is restricted to Uttar Pradesh and there are no plans to take it beyond." Given the state of his government now, it seems he will have his hands full keeping the alliance going in just his state.