Uttar Pradesh Wants Progress Not Political Bickerings

The people of Lucknow wish that Chief Minister Adityanath and Union Home Minister Amit Shah would sort out their differences away from Uttar Pradesh (UP). A large majority of the population in UP would like the government to spend more time addressing immediate problems faced by citizens like joblessness, and the unaffordable price of essential commodities.

“Who is interested in a battle of egos between v and Shah?” a Lucknow University graduate desperately in search of a job told The Citizen. Another citizen said that it does not matter which one of them wins this battle as both share a similar value system.

The politics of both is about social engineering rather than social justice. Both Adityanath and Shah are known to practise divisive politics and both express a loathing for Dalits, Minorities and fellow human beings who have a different view of the world to them. Together their politics has ripped apart the social fabric of UP, a state that had prided itself on practising the Ganga-Jamuni way of living together and valuing the concept of bhaichara or universal brotherhood.

The latest order issued in the state is a mockery of the Constitution. The decree is to get vendors, hotels and eateries to display names of the owners on their businesses.

This is done to identify the religion of the owners of businesses on the route taken by the annual Hindu pilgrimage of Kanwar Yatra.

In the past shops were lined up along the 240 km-long Kanwar Yatra route but the religion of the shopkeeper was not an issue. This year preparations for the Kanwar Yatra have started and all eateries have been directed to display the names of the owners. Muslim hotels and dhabas have been prohibited from naming their business after Hindu deities.

The move has outraged opposition leaders, academics and activists and is described as unconstitutional and divisive. Journalist Ziya Us Salam said that through guile and cunning, citizens are being divided on the basis of religion and caste.

Congress leader Pawan Khera called it state sponsored bigotry, blaming the ruling party for pushing the country back into the dark ages. Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra said it was blatantly illegal to do so. Delhi University Professor Apoorvanand added that there could not be a more unconstitutional order creating division in society.

The Favourite CM?

Adityanath was also Shah’s choice as CM after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the last UP Assembly election in 2017 by an overwhelming majority of 325 seats in a house of 403 seats. That election had no CM face and it was contested under a collective leadership, capitalising entirely on the political clout of brand Narendra Modi.

In 2017 Adityanath was the outsider within the BJP. The political powers in Delhi were sure that v would be so grateful for the post of CM that he would always do as he was told.

To keep Adityanath in check BJP’s backward caste face Keshav Prasad Maurya and the upper caste Dinesh Sharma were appointed deputy CM to the Thakur CM. Maurya is close to Shah and he is said to want to replace Adityanath as the CM.

Last Sunday the BJP held a meeting with party leaders and workers where Maurya claimed that the party is bigger than the government. Today Adityanath has emerged as a powerful politician in his own right.

This is not appreciated by Adityanath’s detractors and there is a tug of war between some upper caste Brahmans and so called ‘lower castes’ who have reportedly “ganged up against the Thakur CM” and his coterie of bureaucrats. However his well-wishers see Adityanath as a more zealous face of Hindutva than Modi.

In UP his popularity is without contest. Especially many women say that Adityanath makes them feel safe on the streets of Lucknow even in the middle of the night and decked in gold.

Seasoned Right Wing politicians see Adityanath as a better challenge to the rising popularity of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav than the ageing, and exhausted looking PM.

After the defeat of the BJP that had reduced the party’s seats from 63 to 33 in the Lok Sabha elections that ended last June, the move to remove Adityanath as CM has intensified. BJP leaders like Shah want Adityanath to take all the blame for the party’s poor performance in the 2024 elections in UP.

Adityanath argues that he had no say in the way the Lok Sabha elections were conducted in the name of the PM. So why should he take the blame? According to Adityanath the BJP lost seats due to overconfidence amongst other factors like the party’s inability to communicate the ruling party’s achievements to the voter.

Will Adityanath go? When will Adityanath go? Who will be replaced by Adityanath is all that is of interest to the ruling elite in UP while ordinary citizens struggle to protect their household from being swept away by the rains.

The Floods Rage On

While the political elite is busy playing musical chairs, floods have devastated lives in several districts of UP. Hundreds of villages have been affected by the floods, and citizens have lost loved ones and homes. The rains have raised the danger level of the Saryu river in Ayodhya where a riverside structure built at a cost of crores of rupees has been washed away by a strong current.

Streets in Lucknow are water logged. Open air markets have lost business due to overflowing drains. Many deaths have occurred due to lightning, drowning and snakebites this rainy season. The Suheli and Mohana rivers have flooded half of the Dudhwa forest area, endangering wildlife there.

Teachers Are Angry

Thousands of teachers have taken to the streets in UP to protest the introduction of online attendance calling it a Tughlaqi decree. Teachers want their demands for better working conditions addressed instead like leave given to other government employees.

Teachers in Lucknow have been wearing a black band on the arm as an expression of their anger. Last Sunday, thousands of teachers of government primary and upper primary schools launched an online attack on the Basic Shiksha Parishad move to make teachers’ attendance digital.

Today UP is a state full of very angry citizens, including jobless youngsters.