Column

This time round in Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati is keeping pace with all the biggies in terms of money power. Like the Congress, BJP and SP, she too has hired three helicopters for her campaign.One ferries her, the second is reserved for the BSP’s Brahmin face, Satish Misra, and the third is at the disposal of the party’s Muslim face, Naseemuddin Siddiquie.

She’s also following in the footsteps of other parties in the sophisticated podiums erected for her rallies. Each podium is equipped with a portable toilet and an air conditioned tent for her to use in case she needs to take a break or meet people.

A bowl of fruit and cold water are kept handy. Interestingly, the Congress makes similar arrangements for Sonia Gandhi at every rally site. The BSP has come a long way indeed from the days when a paucity of funds forced the party to stick to basics.

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The military precision with which Mayawati has planned her bid to storm Lucknow is impressive. She’s been working on it for the past three years and she’s set up a network that rivals the Sangh’s ground level preparations. At the top of the power pyramid is Mayawati herself, naturally. Next come an array of coordinators, each in charge of five districts.

Then, there are district presidents, followed by the heads of the assembly segments, who in turn oversee workers in charge of a cluster of polling booths. At the bottom is an army of volunteers who comprise the booth committees.

Mayawati follows a relaxed tour schedule. While her rivals are sweating it out from morning till evening, addressing several rallies a day, she just does two. By late afternoon, she’s back in Lucknow and on the phone to the coordinators and district presidents who have to file a daily progress report.

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What differentiates the 2007 campaign from those in the past is the level of sophistication and maturity Mayawati is displaying. For one, she’s willingly shared some of the power trimmings (like helicopters) with Misra and Siddiquie who represent two of the important communities to which the BSP is reaching out this time.

Secondly, she’s mellowed her rhetoric to an astonishing degree. Brahmin-bashing has given way to promises of reservations for poor upper castes. She’s going out of her way to give assurances of minority protection and welfare.

The vitriol that has become her hallmark is directed this time at SP leaders Mulayam Singh and Amar Singh and she pulls no punches as she threatens to send them to jail once she’s in power. From a boorish, insecure Eliza Dolittle to Kanshi Ram’s Pygmalion, Mayawati has metamorphosed into a canny politician who seems to have left her mentor far behind.

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TAILPIECE

One officer the Ministry of External Affairs can’t seem to do without is Jaishankar, who recently moved from the Americas desk to Singapore as India’s high commissioner. He was the critical link in the ongoing negotiations on the Indo-US nuclear deal. With the deal running into rough weather, he’s had to abandon post twice already to rescue the MEA.

He was rushed to Delhi for the technical level talks with the US on the 1-2-3 agreement. Last week, he was sent to South Africa for similar talks with the Nuclear Suppliers Group. All this shuttling couldn’t be doing India-Singapore
relations much good!

Email: a_jerath@dnaindia.net