Looking through UP

The next Lok Sabha election could happen as early as September, if Mulayam Singh Yadav is to be believed. His eager anticipation of the event isn't exactly news. Every party is loudly preparing for the fray, and the date could well be advanced. Netaji's words are a rallying cry to the Samajwadi Party cadre, a promise of good things to come. Yet, this overwhelming imperative of getting him to the prime minister's office may well be taking a toll: it has become one of the reasons to keep the SP distracted and ineffective in power in Uttar Pradesh.

In April 2012, the Samajwadi Party won the state by a majority, only the second time in nearly two decades that a single party has formed the government in UP. It was a composite mandate — the party had drawn voters from every caste and religious group in UP's famously fragmented political terrain. Great hopes rested on the new government, therefore, which was headed by a young and sincere-seeming Akhilesh Yadav. This was billed to be UP's shot at a turnaround, much like neighbouring Bihar's near-transformation in recent years under the stewardship of Nitish Kumar.

By all accounts, that opportunity is being steadily squandered. This is in part because the SP's attention is trained on Delhi, and partly because it is slipping back to the bad old ways, with out-of-control party workers interfering, unchecked, in police and administration. Rather than strengthening economic fundamentals, the state government spends its resources on freebie schemes designed to appeal to every slender interest group — some of these were pledged in its extravagant election manifesto. Scholarships for Class X students from BPL families, minority communities and girls overlap. There is an unemployment allowance of Rs 1,000 a month. Laptops and tablets are being given away. All this generosity may be tipping the state's fiscal situation into danger. It doesn't help that power is dispersed within the SP, and accountability remains elusive. Sections of the party feel left out of ministerial positions, chairmanships and positions on boards of corporations, and afraid of displeasing anyone, the government has chosen to keep important positions empty. The recent case of the SCERT chief who was appointed, and then mystifyingly removed within 24 hours, is only one example of the arbitrariness of the appointment process. From Varanasi and Muzaffarnagar, reports have documented instances of police inaction and of SP leaders shielding the accused. As the recent incidents of communal tension in UP confirm, this corrosion of police autonomy can sap the will of the institution, making law and order even more of a challenge. These should be burning priorities for the UP government and the Samajwadi Party.

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