It’s no-holds-barred vitriol in UP

Elections in the seven decades after independence have been characterised by growing political maturity of the electorate in most places, but that they are fought on seemingly trivial issues while crucial issues get swept under the carpet is a sad but cold reality.

The American system in which the two main candidates come face to face in presidential debates, which are sharp and issue-based, comes through as worthy of emulation. But it is a far cry for us, caught as we are in a web of petty politics and deception.

We have one of the worst records of pollution control in the world. Deforestation is rampant in most states, denuding the environment of its rich flora and fauna. Yet, there is not even a passing reference to it in the campaigns. School education and public health occupy a small part of the discourse though they should be dominant themes. Foreign policy is hardly a subject for debate despite the great impact it has on the country.

We continue to run our campaigns on caste and religious differences, reflecting deep divisions which are unhealthy and retrograde. It is some relief that development has become a subject of discussion but there is little traction for it in terms of concrete ideas.

The seven-phase Assembly election in the country’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh has been vitiated by foul words and below-the-belt hits. The Election Commission has done well in terms of controlling violence and organised rigging but the use of money power has become so pervasive that it is virtually inconceivable for a person with modest means to win an election. This is a negation of the democratic ethos.

Candidates are chosen by major parties keeping in mind their winnability and their own resources so that the party they represent does not have to dig into party coffers overmuch. With candidates spending astronomical sums on elections, there is a strong tendency after winning to milk the exchequer and get funds through contracts that are often the result of unfair practices.

While the current elections in UP have seen a great deal of wheeling dealing, what has disappointed right-thinking people the most is the poor taste in which many of the statements by political leaders have been made, vitiating the already-acrimonious atmosphere beyond acceptable limits.

The most shocking comment came from Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav who targeted Prime Minister Modi by making the controversial "donkey" remark while referring to an advertisement of Gujarat government in which megastar Amitabh Bhachchan promotes tourism in the state. Without taking any name, he advised the "biggest Bollywood actor of the century" not to "campaign for the donkeys of Gujarat".

The remark, in the course of an election speech, was in rank poor taste and evoked a sharp reaction from the Gujarat BJP which accused the UP Chief Minister of ‘insulting’ the people for Gujarat.

The BJP leaders in the home state of Gujarat also took a swipe at Akhilesh over his tussle for power with his father Mulayam Singh Yadav saying that unlike him, donkeys are loyal and he should learn from the animal.

Amitabh Bachchan has for some years been a friend of Modi and is a brand ambassador for Gujarat Tourism, which recently profiled wild asses found in the state as a tourist attraction. Akhilesh was taking an indirect hit against Modi but that must have cost him votes because the old guard that sympathises with Mulayam evidently saw in Akhilesh a man who had no respect for elders as had been borne out first in Mulayam’s case and then in the case of Modi who is of his father’s generation.

The Muslim vote is a crucial factor in the Samajwadi Party’s scheme of things and while the Muslim minority which accounts for over 18 per cent of UP’s electorate would vote more for the party for strategic reasons to keep the BJP at bay, the elders among them are unhappy with Akhilesh for having ditched Mulayam who has been their friend through thick and thin.

With the BJP having failed to find a local leader from among them at the UP State level to be projected as a chief minister in waiting, it has fallen on the Modi-Amit Shah duo to lead their campaign. That this has been exploited by leaders of the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress, which have told the electorate to beware of ‘outsiders’ could work somewhat against the BJP.

Modi’s pitch has been on anti-corruption and good governance. He coined the catchword SCAM and said it stood for SP, Congress, Akhilesh and Mayawati, as he appealed to the voters to get rid of them. He also termed BSP as "Behenji Sampatti Party", to which Mayawati retorted instantly, saying the initials of Narendra Damodardas Modi stood for "Negative Dalit Man".

These are childish coinages but when one is catering to the lowest common denominator, they sometimes work.

The Prime Minister, in one of the rallies, sought to suggest that the SP government had indulged in discriminatory supply of electricity on the basis of religion. Reacting to this, Akhilesh asked Modi to swear by 'Ganga Maiyya' (mother Ganga) if any discrimination had been meted out to his Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi.

Provocative language may be a sign of the race getting tighter, or of campaigners pulling out all stops if they perceive their position to be weakening. But in today’s UP there are no holds barred.

March 11 is indeed the day when UP-watchers are waiting for. Who will win the crucial electoral battle and form the government is being animatedly discussed in every street corner in a state that is so highly politicised.