In her efforts to wean away Muslims from the Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati seems to have sacrificed her hard-won reputation for being tough on the law and order.
On Thursday, she rolled down the red carpet for the Ansari family, who are mafia dons from eastern UP. The BSP supremo allotted party tickets to Mukhtar Ansari, his brother Sigbatullah and son Abbas, taking the number of Muslim candidates to 100, roughly 25 per cent of the total 403 seats in Uttar Pradesh. The BSP has thus given the highest percentage of tickets to the Muslims. The BJP, in contrast, has not given a ticket to any member of the community so far.
While announcing her decision to field Mukhtar from Mau, Sigbatullah from Mohammadabad and Abbbas from Ghosi, the BSP chief was hard-pressed to explain that she is, in fact, trying to right the wrong done to the Ansari family. “There are bigger goondas in other parties,” said Mayawati at an event where the Ansari family joined the BSP. She also said the cases against Mukhtar, some of which were filed in her earlier terms as Chief Minister, were “not genuine”.
The irony is not lost on a political observer: Mayawati had swept to power in the 2007 Assembly elections, even attracting hitherto hostile communities such as the Brahmins, on the slogan “Chad gundon ki chhati par, Brahman baitha haathi par (The Brahmin has climbed atop the elephant (BSP’s election symbol) on the chest of the goons in UP)”.
The ‘Goonda Raj’ had, in fact become synonymous with her arch-rival Mulayam Singh Yadav and his Samajwadi Party. Under Mulayam, the SP cultivated strongmen and mafia dons from all communities, including the Pratapgarh princeling Raja Bhaiya, criminal-turned-politician from Phulphur Atiq Ahmad and Mukhtar, whose Quami Ekta Dal merged with the SP last year with Mulayam’s backing.
However, the UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav changed the rules of the game once he gained control of the SP. Not only has he denied party tickets to Atiq Ahmad and Mukhtar Ansari, he has taken to a sober, development-oriented approach and not catering to any community sentiments.
Mayawati, on the other hand, is actively pursuing the Muslims who have traditionally favoured the SP. Incorporating the Ansari family is the latest in a series of moves to forge a Dalit-Muslim alliance in the poll-bound State.