IN order to answer the critical question – ‘What should be done in UP’ one obviously must know what went wrong in the first place. Like most problems there is a subjective cause and an objective condition. Contemporary politicians and self-styled political commentators tend to pick up an isolated thread to justify their immediate concerns and priorities. But any serious attempt to understand must look at historical causes as well as more recent events that have pushed UP into its present state of disarray.

The Congress party has been out of office for more than a decade and a half. Admittedly things were much better during the years of Congress rule but equally the subsequent degeneration must inevitably have taken root then. Uttar Pradesh was a backward state and, perhaps more than anything else, its size did not allow it the breakthrough that other states achieved, e.g. Punjab or Haryana. But if that is one dominant reason, the political results have only fed greater backwardness to the state. Instead of rejecting the Congress for another party that held out promise of real progress, the voters of UP opted for narrow community-based comfort – Jatavs for Mayawati, Yadavs for Mulayam Singh Yadav, Lodhs for Kalyan Singh, Kurmis for Sone Lal Patel, Rajput and Brahmins splitting between several leaders, and so on. Of course, it did not end there; the Nishads sought their own party, and the Rajbhars found their own saviour as did the Pasis.

For historic reasons, the Muslims, by drifting away from the Congress, have made caste politics in UP viable, both directly and indirectly. Both the SP and BSP have natural growth ceilings because of their ideologies and leadership styles. The BSP has tried to break through the ceiling but its strategy seems to work only where Brahmins are given tickets to contest. All in all, these parties spend more of their time and effort garnering combinations that can give them a winning chance rather than on other useful and sensible aspects of politics. Given that personalized interests are paramount and common public concerns hold little promise of immediate gain, they are happily ignored. In office, since good governance imposes severe restrictions on politics of personalized interests, it is unsurprisingly the last item on the list of the government’s priorities. The worst aspect of this is the sorry spectacle of a government of criminals, by criminals and for criminals.

 

Is there a way out or will UP continue to spin in the vicious circle of uncaring and undeserving governments? Despite the differences between BJP and Congress, it can at least be said that as national parties they can both be expected to rise above narrow interests to the extent possible in practical politics. However, the BJP’s periodic focus on Ayodhya alongside its partners’ more virulent pursuit of ‘Hindutva’, distracts it from other profound developmental concerns. In any case, commitment to genuine good governance repeatedly gets lost in the din of baser politics and caste conflict. The good are by default dubbed as ineffective whilst the scheming are accepted with the defeatist attitude of ‘if you can’t beat them then join them!’

 

Time is a great healer and indeed a great precipitator of charge. But given the pace of change in the world as indeed in India, UP cannot afford to wait for even a brief moment. By the looks of it, a giant leap of change is not likely by any party. Steps towards an honest alliance are possible, likely, as well as necessary; these can be planned or unplanned, pre-election or post election. UP politics lacks people with such insight as would allow for a farsighted, meticulously planned post-election alliance. In such circumstances there is little point in expending energy on that matter and instead parties are positioning themselves to get the best possible bargaining position through the number of seats in the election.

The Congress has over the last decade lost repeatedly for different reasons. In the beginning prolonged incumbency fatigue combined with the rising passions of Hindutva sapped its goodwill reserves; this was followed by the tragic events in Ayodhya that created tremors across the state but which shook the Congress citadel most dramatically. In subsequent years the Congress began to lose because simple arithmetic confirmed it as a loser well before the election day. If one looks a loser one cannot win; if one cannot win for a long time one loses the will to win; if one does not win one looks a loser.

There is a good governance packet that is available to implement in UP. Anyone associated with UP politics over the past three decades knows the rough from the smooth of the political passages. But what is first needed is a strategy to elect a government that does not owe its existence to a lack of good governance. In order to do that what is needed is will-power, self-confidence, visible determination, and a strategy. Of course, political and financial fire power is imperative. In terms of mega assets – the charisma of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, and the performance record and personality of Manmohan Singh, we are second to none. The dramatic and remarkable economic, and social initiatives of the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre are bound to have an impact provided we are able to do the right salesmanship. The Justice Sachar Committee Report on Muslims is just beginning to be noticed and the coming Budget should give it a further shot of credibility.

 

The electoral space required for these remarkable programmes to be noticed for responsive decision-making by the voter will need some careful manoeuvring to unstitch the existing political-social arrangements of SP, BSP and BJP. Once the frozen picture begins to thaw, the churning process can begin as well. It is too early to speak of new alliances but some are inevitable. Initially the picture will become positive for Congress if the most backwards and some backwards break free of the dominance of Jatavs in BSP and Yadavs in SP and some splinter groups shift away from the reunited BJP with Kalyan Singh back on top. Once the arithmetic changes the voters will begin to look at the positives the Congress has to offer. Given the past arithmetic the voter was forced to remain myopic.

Once the electoral results are realigned and the government of UP comes under the influence of the Congress party, the good governance agenda can be pursued with vigour. The following steps would need to be taken with a sense of urgency and sincerity:

1. (a) Objective posting procedure for police and administrative officials with statutory security of tenure.

(b) Fast track courts for crimes of public order and heinous nature.

(c) Special Task Force to prevent criminal monopoly of government contracts.

(d) A Criminal Injuries Compensation Board to make compensation a statutory right.

(e) Special Recruitment Board for state police and a PCS headed by judicial officers and strict adherence to diversity principles.

(f) Legal Aid for criminal as well as civil matters for BPL/LIG litigants.

2. (a) Fresh legislation for Town and Country Planning, reducing both official/political discretion as well as unplanned development.

(b) 20 year plan for land use conversion and earmarking of zones for public/private development after suitable public hearings.

(c )Equity/Profit sharing for farmers whose land is acquired.

3. (a) Earmarking heritage cities for special infrastructure development besides the eight Mission cities under JNURP. These would combine preservation of historic character, craft and culture tourism and commerce. (Kannauj, Farrukhabad, Bhadoi, Malihabad, Aligarh, Ferozabad, Moradabad etc.)

(b) Replication of industrial townships like Noida/Greater Noida in parts of Bundelkhand/Poorvanchal.

(c) Rapid completion of expressways across West-East stretch of UP with link corridors in the western, central and eastern parts of the state.

4. (a) Taming of the great rivers and recovering land.

(b) Massive cleaning up operations of the Ganga and Yamuna.

5. (a) Affirmative action in the matter of government contracts for dalit, backward and minority cooperatives.

(b) Revamp of the cooperative movement.

6. Time-bound targeted supply of power to the agricultural sector, industry and homes.

7. (a) Restructuring of UP Development Council by giving participation to trade unions, farmers and so on.

(b) Quickly establishing 70 agro clusters (one in each district) as suggested by the Sengupta Committee Report.

8. Special thrust for sports and culture.

9. Massive investment in schools, hospitals and housing.

10. Establishing a social worker cadre for special care of poor families, women and children, supported by adequate infrastructure.

11. Comprehensive survey of traditional occupational social groups (castes) and rationalizing of their status. Special training, incentives like easy credit to modernize their occupational skills and management (machuars, garadias, prajapati, kumhars etc).

12. Pursuit of excellence in education besides universal education.

 

These are only illustrative and certainly far from being exhaustive. The idea is that once caste and religion allow a little window to development, each step towards the latter will fortify a new and wholesome ground situation in UP. The state would have got its new freedom. Will that happen during the 150th anniversary of 1857 or will it be another noble dream like India’s first war of independence, having to wait for another Gandhi to take the last stride to freedom? Only time will tell. Or indeed the UP voter. For some of us the nightmare will transform into a dream. We believe we shall overcome.