Mayawati needs much more than the present strength of supporters to catapult her to the PM’s chair The BSP had stormed into power in Uttar Pradesh on the issue of Mulayam Singh Yadav’s ‘goonda raj’. But now she is herself wooing the mafia dons of UP some she has already won over and others are being worked upon, to help her realise her Prime Ministerial ambition.
The red carpet has been rolled out for all the actual and alleged dons turned political heavyweights in Uttar Pradesh to join Mayawati’s bandwagon. Her chief lieutenants — Public Works Department Minister Naseemuddin Siddiqui and Lok Sabha MP Akbar Ahmed Dumpy — are busy round the clock brokering deals with those who are jailed or out on bail.
Atiq Ahmad, Afzal Ansari, Mukhtar Ansari, Umakant Yadav, D.P. Yadav and Vijay Singh are all lined up. Some of them have already pledged loyalty to Mayawati, others are set to do so. The reason is obvious: the Dalit Queen of north India now wants to accomplish ‘Mission Prime Ministership 2009’ with the help of hooks to net the crooks! So it’s quite natural that the same Mayawati who had started a crusade to clean up the badlands of UP has given in to the temptation to hobnob with the bahubalis. Now it’s a story of the end justifying the means rather the means justifying the end.
It was 21 October 2007 when Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati, speaking at the Police Memorial Day function at Lucknow, said her government wanted the police to act against the criminals, no matter who they are. She directed the police to initiate stern action against criminals who pose a threat to law and order in society. At the same time, her Man Friday Naseemuddin Siddiqui was finalising the nitty-gritty of brokering a deal with political dons.
On July 16 this year, he along with Akbar Ahmed Dumpy, who represents the BSP from Azamgarh, met notorious Member of the Legislative Council Mukhtar Ansari and his brother, Member of Parliament Afzal Ansari. While the former is accused of murdering BSP legislator Raju Pal, the latter is facing charges of murdering BJP legislator Krishnanand Rai. The duo again met the two heavyweights of the eastern UP badlands before the Trust Vote on July 22 and ensured that Afzal voted against the UPA alliance, toeing the BSP supremo’s dictat. Siddiqui then flew down to Allahabad where he had a two-hour meeting with Ateeq Ahmed in Naini jail. Several BSP leaders accompanied Siddiqui to the jail, including the party’s candidate for the Allahabad Lok Sabha seat Ashok Kumar Bajpai and party MLAs Mujtaba Siddiqui, Raj Bali Jaisel and Preveen Patel.
Well informed BSP sources said in private that while Afzal Ansari was assured of a BSP ticket for the Lok Sabha polls, Mukhtar was also promised a suitable position in the party. The minister says, “Ahmed has given me a letter addressed to Chief Minister Mayawati expressing his desire to join the party. He has denied his involvement in Pal’s murder and said if the court holds him guilty, he would accept the decision taken by her.”
It was not all of a sudden. Actually, Ahmed understood the mood of the political bosses of the state. So he had already issued a statement praising Mayawati, saying that she deserved to be prime minister. It had led to speculation about him joining the BSP but the party had denied such claims saying that it had no place for criminals. BSP, which earlier had accused Ahmed of murdering its MLA, now has changed its heart and mind. The party wants Ahmed under Behenji’s umbrella anyhow. Defying the SP whip, both Ansari and Ahmed had voted against the UPA government during the July 22 trust vote in the Lok Sabha. The BSP high command is not even bothered about the sentiments of Pal’s mother and his widow Puja, a BSP legislator. Puja Pal has been keeping away from party meetings and other activities. Now, party sources say, she is likely to be given a berth in the state cabinet, said BSP sources. The move is aimed to placate her and prevent the defection of the Pal community, which has substantial votes in Allahabad, sources said.
Similar is the story of western UP don D.P. Yadav. He was in the BSP earlier, but was thrown out due to charges of criminality. Now on March 4, D.P. Yadav announced the merger of his party Rashtriya Parivartan Dal (RPD) with the ruling BSP. The announcement, which was made in the state Assembly, was approved by Speaker Sukhdeo Rajbhar. Both Yadav and his wife Urmilesh are members of the Assembly from Badaun. While Yadav represents Sahswan Assembly constituency, Urmilesh was elected from the Bisauli constituency. Now the buzz among the political corridors of the state and also the administration of western UP is that D.P. Yadav is using his clout to get rid of cases registered against him. Although the administration is not confirming this, the whisper in Ghaziabad is that a special secretary of the state government is unofficially mounting pressure on them to be soft on D.P. Yadav.
Likewise, Umakant Yadav, MP from Machchlishahar, is another Yadav strongman who got shelter from BSP to serve its mission. He was also paid a visit in the Farrukhabad jail by none other than Mayawati’s Man Friday Naseemuddin Siddiqui. He used a helicopter for this purpose. The meeting lasted for about half an hour in which the minister coaxed the jailed MP to come under the BSP umbrella. The same Umakant Yadav had been arrested by the police on the directions of none other than Mayawati when he came to meet her in Lucknow following charges lodged against him, his son and seven others under Section 307 of the IPC. He was charged with bulldozing the house of one Feroz Ahmed in Pallia Udai village of Phoolpur area and threatening the villagers by firing in the air. Now he has also surrendered to the BSP pressure. He may contest the Lok Sabha election from Pratapgarh on the BSP ticket.
In Pratapgarh, there is a crusade by Mayawati against the powerful Rajput leader and Samajwadi Party man Raja Bhaiyya. Reports are there that Mayawati’s cronies have contacted him also to join the bandwagon. But the youth icon of Rajput muscle politics in the state has politely refused. His close associate Dhananjay Singh, who became an MLA on the JD (U) ticket, and is accused of the murder of a government official, has joined the BSP. Sources say he will contest from Jaunpur Lok Sabha seat. And Vijay Singh, who is accused of the murder of Brahmdutt Dwivedi, BJP leader from Farrukhabad, has also been decided to come under the BSP umbrella. He won the last election on the Samajwadi Party ticket from Farrukhabad city. It is worth mentioning that Brahmdutt Dwivedi was the person who saved Mayawati during infamous guest house incident.
All the opposition parties are openly criticising BSP’s Mission Mafia. Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh says, ”Atiq Ahmed, Mukhtar Ansari, D.P. Yadav, Umkant Yadav were said to be the goons of the Samajwadi Party. Have these criminals turned saints after joining the BSP?” Raising the slogan of ”Maya Sharanam Gachami” as the real mantra for all the criminals of the state, he said now these criminal elements were being drycleaned overnight. Terming these acts as a mockery of morality in politics, he said the dream of the Chief Minister to become the prime minister would mock the sacrifice made by BSP MLA Raju Pal, whose his killer Atiq Ahmed would have all the favour of the government.
The Congress is also very critical of criminals getting shelter. State party president Rita Bahuguna Joshi says, “The BSP government has been encouraging the mafia to join its rank and files. The Congress expresses grave concern over the lawlessness and has asked the BSP to fulfill the promise of giving people a responsible and sensitive government.”