Maya’s big stick

Contrary to the dominant trend of analysis and myth-making, Mayawati’s famous mandate in Uttar Pradesh was not all about more radical social engineering or a brand new caste arithmetic. It was about the main promise she repeatedly made during her poll campaign — that she would bring an end to UP’s “goonda raj” and restore law and order. It was also about the fact that across caste and class groups, a critical number of voters believed that she could deliver on that promise. In her previous tenures in power, the BSP chief may not have achieved any significant or enduring transformations in the state’s governance, but she had fetched herself a reputation of being tough on crime. So when the Mayawati government announced the introduction of a tough new law to fight organised crime on Wednesday — the Uttar Pradesh Control of Organised Crime Act after its enactment-it signalled that her resolve hadn’t flagged.

But Mayawati must walk a fine line. And this is not just because tough laws can often turn out to be blunt instruments. Or because similar laws that have been enacted earlier have attracted controversy, like Maharashtra’s MCOCA, on which the new law in UP is ostensibly modelled. Mayawati’s real test on law and order will lie closer home. One, she has not shown any evidence of being able to address the institutional challenge, as opposed to rule by discretionary power. Two, her record does not assuage the doubts of those who worry about a fresh bout of vendetta politics. Her government’s recent decision to cancel, en masse, the appointment of those recruited into the police force by the previous regime — without putting in place a less corrupt and nepotism-ridden system in its stead — framed the reason why both anxieties remain valid today.

The Mayawati government needs to be intolerant on the law and order front. UP’s particularly vicious nexus between crime and politics needs to be broken. But Mayawati cannot do this with special laws alone. There is no skipping the task of plugging the leaks in the criminal justice system.