Moral of UP story: Nothing succeeds like realpolitik

LUCKNOW, FEB 22: I have confirmed reports that BJP ministers Raghuraj Pratap Singh and Hari Shankar Tiwari, who have a criminal records, h...

LUCKNOW, FEB 22: “I have confirmed reports that BJP ministers Raghuraj Pratap Singh and Hari Shankar Tiwari, who have a criminal records, have entered D P Yadav’s Dhanari farmhouse along with goons armed with sophisticated weapons. They have 200 cars, nine of which are fitted with wireless sets. The police raided the farmhouse but let off the 100 goons. I apprehend large-scale violence and booth capturing during polling in Sambhal tomorrow.”

Barely 12 hours after Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav faxed this letter to the Election Commission yesterday, Hari Shankar Tiwari was inducted as Cabinet Minister in the Jagdambika Pal Ministry propped up, among others, by Mulayam Singh’s Samajwadi Party. And having pulled off the coup, a state SP leader admitted: “Now with Tiwari on our side, we are confident of winning the Sambhal Lok Sabha seat.”

This is political opportunism touching a new high in UP. When the 22 Congress MLAs led by Naresh Aggarwal formed the Loktantrik Congress and decided tosupport the Kalyan Singh Government, ideology did not come in the way. “It is high time words like communal and secular were redefined,” Aggarwal had then said.

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And when they ditched Kalyan Singh yesterday and staked claim to form a government with the support of the BSP and the SP, it had nothing to do with ideology either. “The BJP backed out on its promises. It was going radically communal in its election speeches,” Aggarwal said yesterday.A Loktantrik Congress MLA, Vivek Singh, pledged the support of 12 party members to Kalyan Singh at 8.30 pm yesterday. But an hour-and-a-half later, he was sworn in as minister in the Jagdambika Pal Cabinet. “We had a meeting of the LC Legislature Party and it was decided that we would join the government. I was unaware of the party’s decision when I made the earlier statement,” he said with a straight face.

Hari Shankar Tiwari and Mandaleshwar Singh expressed similar loyalty. While leaving Gorakhpur yesterday afternoon, both pledged support to Kalyan Singh,but within moments of reaching Lucknow, they switched sides.

It is not unusual for Loktantrik Congressmen to switch allegiance at the drop of a hat. After all, the breakaway party was formed by 22 MLAs who changed seats — from Opposition benches to Treasury benches. But now, four months later, the party has taken another leap from “power-sharing” to “absolute power”.

“Theirs is the ideology of power and pelf,” says Professor K N Sharma, a retired social scientist of IIT, Kanpur, “No politician today cares for the welfare of the State and its people.”

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In fact, the new government doesn’t seem to be on solid ground. A number of those holding ministerial positions were till yesterday bitter political rivals. No wonder Mulayam Singh and Mayawati did not even exchange pleasantries at yesterday’s swearing-in, though the SP and the BSP are backing the Loktantrik Congress Government.

It was only last month when Jagdambika Pal and Hari Shankar Tiwari turned against fellow leader and now Deputy ChiefMinister Naresh Aggarwal, accusing him of “autocratic behaviour”. And Aggarwal himself made similar allegations against Congress Legislature Party leader Pramod Tiwari while forming the Loktantrik Congress four months ago.

But yesterday, apart from posing for photographs together, Pal, Aggarwal, and Tiwari also separately exchanged greetings with Mulayam and Mayawati. Tiwari even said he had accepted Pal’s leadership. “Given a chance, I too would like to join the government headed by Pal and Aggarwal,” he told The Indian Express last night.

In the end, it was Pal who summed it up best. “It should be very clear now that there are neither permanent friends nor permanent foes in politics. The one who makes the most of available opportunities, is the wiser politician.”