After almost a quarter century, Uttar Pradesh politics is witnessing an almost impossible phenomenon: the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party have joined hands in the poll arena.
Well known for their political rivalry defined by crude snub and animated contests for 23 years, the two have come together ahead of the March 11 byelections to Gorakhpur and Phulpur parliamentary constituencies. Such has been their enmity that it often seeped into personal level among their leaders and had permeated down to their grassroots cadres and supporters.
Then, recently, BSP supremo Mayawati announced a strategic pact with the SP led by Akhilesh Yadav. Her wordings at a press conference convened to announce it indicates that the relationship will be give-and-take initially. But one can also read in it the future possibilities to grow into an alliance for the 2019 general elections. For now, it’s a limited-purpose agreement with a short-term goal. One, of course, is to win the two Lok Sabha seats. The other is a tacit quid pro quo: the BSP aspires for the Samajwadi’s support in the April Rajya Sabha elections, while the SP is keen to mobilise support for the state MLC polls slated for this June.
Wind back to 1993, when the SP’s Mulayam Singh Yadav and his BSP counterpart Kanshi Ram formed a Dalit-OBC poll front. It performed impressively in the state elections, and they formed the government (along with the Congress and Janata Dal). This alliance worked well for a while, but the SP-BSP relations began souring within a couple of years. In 1995, that government fell. Playing a role in it was the ‘guest house kand’ in which SP supporters attacked Mayawati. Subsequently, she formed a government with the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der March 19, 2018-Ausgabe von Outlook.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der March 19, 2018-Ausgabe von Outlook.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
The Propaganda Files
A recent spate of Hindi films distorts facts and creates imaginary villains. Century-old propaganda cinema has always relied on this tactic
Will Hindutva Survive After 2024?
The idealogy of Hindutva faces a challenge in staying relevant
A Terrific Tragicomedy
Paul Murray's The Bee Sting is a tender and extravagant sketch of apocalypse
Trapped in a Template
In the upcoming election, more than the Congress, the future of the Gandhi family is at stake
IDEOLOGY
Public opinion will never be devoid of ideology: but we shall destroy ourselves without philosophical courage
The Many Kerala Stories
How Kerala responded to the propaganda film The Kerala Story
Movies and a Mirage
Previously portrayed as a peaceful paradise, post-1990s Kashmir in Bollywood has become politicised
Lights, Cinema, Politics
FOR eight months before the 1983 state elections in undivided Andhra Pradesh, a modified green Chevrolet van would travel non-stop, except for the occasional pit stops and food breaks, across the state.
Cut, Copy, Paste
Representation of Muslim characters in Indian cinema has been limited—they are either terrorists or glorified individuals who have no substance other than fixed ideas of patriotism
The Spectre of Eisenstein
Cinema’s real potency to harness the power of enchantment might want to militate against its use as a servile, conformist propaganda vehicle