A political farce

Published : Dec 06, 2002 00:00 IST

The high drama that followed the nominations to a Rajya Sabha byelection in Lucknow takes Uttar Pradesh politics to a new low.

IT is not for nothing that Uttar Pradesh has earned the epithet ulta Pradesh. Politicians here can turn the system upside down, and quite clumsily too. The political buffoonery that unfolded in Lucknow late October reached a hilarious climax over the nomination for byelection to a Rajya Sabha seat. Bitter political adversaries joined hands to remove an independent candidate from the contest, exposing the level they can stoop to for their own self-serving ends.

The drama involving the high-profile arms dealer from Delhi, Suresh Nanda, who entered the political scene in Lucknow out of the blue for the lone Rajya Sabha seat, had all the shades and complexities of a Shakespearean comedy, the only difference being that it was played in the real theatre of life.

The political trapeze in the State capital began soon after the serious challenge to the survival of the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) coalition government precipitated by independent and dissident BJP Members of the Legislative Assembly, fizzled out. Once Governor Vishnu Kant Shastri refused to recognise that the BSP government was in a minority, despite the fact that 12 BJP rebel legislators had declared that they had "lost confidence in the government", it was obvious there was no imminent danger to the government. It paid to have a famous Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) pracharak as the occupant of the Raj Bhavan in Lucknow.

Earlier, eight independent MLAs had in a letter to the Governor also declared their "withdrawal of support" to the government. The Governor had then maintained that despite their withdrawal of support, the government had an effective strength of 210 in the 403-member House. Thus, by his own admission, the "loss of confidence" by the dissident BJP MLAs in the government had reduced the government's strength to 198, well below the majority mark. The only way to ascertain democratically whether the government still had a majority was to convene a special session of the Assembly for a floor test. The Governor, however, insisted that no BJP legislator had stated in writing to him that he was "withdrawing support". He did not see any need to convene a special session of the Assembly. Thus, the Governor ensured that the government survived, albeit on life-support systems.

The "friendly" Speaker, Kesri Nath Tripathi, who had performed the herculean task of saving the Kalyan Singh-led BJP government in the past by validating the defections from the BSP and the Congress(I), played his role well this time too. He declared that the conduct of MLAs outside the House could also be a ground for disqualification, as was seen in Maharashtra. Thus he made it clear that even if a special session was convened, the dissenting MLAs could be disqualified on the basis of their conduct outside the House and hence the majority figure required would come down.

While all this political jugglery to save the government was going on, the Samajwadi Party (S.P.) joined the fray. Declaring that he had the support of 204 MLAs, without providing any material proof of his claim, S.P. president Mulayam Singh Yadav demanded the dismissal of the Mayawati government and quickly approached Congress(I) president Sonia Gandhi for support to form the government.

Sonia Gandhi, no doubt, saw through the game and assured Mulayam Singh that without being party to "any toppling game" her party would extend support to "secular forces" if the government fell on its own. She reiterated her stand at the conclave of Congress(I) Chief Ministers at Mount Abu later. This "moralistic" stand adopted by the Congress(I) ensured that the number of dissidents in the BJP remained at 12, belying the expectations of Mulayam Singh that once the Congress(I) pledged its support to him, a good number of BJP MLAs would come out in his support, causing a legally acceptable split in the BJP Legislature Party. While Mulayam Singh kept fretting and fuming, Sonia Gandhi kept herself aloof.

But the real circus began when the nominations for the biennial election to the 10 Rajya Sabha seats and the byelection to one Rajya Sabha seat were announced. Based on their respective strengths, the S.P. declared four names, the BSP three, the BJP two and the Congress one. The contest, which could have proved whether the government enjoyed a majority or not, was in the byelection to the seat that was vacated by T.N. Chaturvedi. The BJP-BSP coalition named hotelier Lalit Suri as its candidate. The BJP dissidents announced that they would field their own candidate and would expose the government's minority status. Out of the blue emerged the controversial Delhi-based arms dealer Suresh Nanda.

One would have expected the S.P., which was harping on the government's minority status and clamouring for its dismissal, and the Congress(I), which was firm in its resolve to support "secular" forces, to go all out in favour of Nanda and expose the government. But to the contrary, the S.P. scrambled to trace Suri who had already filed his nomination papers as an independent with BSP-BJP support. He was brought back by S.P. Legislature Party leader Shivpal Yadav to the returning officer's cabin and made to file his papers as "their candidate".

Nanda met with an even more curious fate when he arrived to file his nomination papers. In a bizarre sequence of events, he was gheraoed and manhandled by Congress(I) and BJP leaders, bundled off to meet Chief Minister Mayawati and forced to withdraw his papers. BJP candidate Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, the party's national general secretary and spokesman, allegedly slapped Nanda, opening the door for a free-for-all in the Returning Officer's room. Congress Legislature Party leader Pramod Tiwari and BJP Legislature Party leader and State Urban Development Minister Lalji Tandon joined the melee, pushing and shoving Nanda.

In an apparent "rescue" operation, Nanda was removed from the place for an audience with Mayawati and after a good five hours, a shaky Nanda declared to the press that he was withdrawing from the contest "in the larger interest of the welfare of people and peace".

In the meantime, the entire state machinery had sprung into action to prove that Nanda had furnished a fake Ghaziabad address, that his name was fraudulently entered into the voters' list, that the format of his affidavit was not right, and so on. He was apparently threatened by both Congress(I) and BJP leaders that he would be booked for fraud if he did not withdraw. But soon after he reached Delhi, Nanda petitioned the Election Commission that since he withdrew his nomination papers "under duress", the withdrawal be ignored and he be allowed to contest. The E.C., however, found his papers to be irregular, and his nomination was rejected. Nanda has since not been accessible to the media.

The political drama that involved him has exposed how low U.P. politicians could stoop and how insecure all the parties are, given the behaviour of their MLAs. Not only the S.P., which gave a breather to the government by declaring its support for Suri, but also the Congress(I) helped bail it out by objecting to Nanda's nomination on "technical grounds". The real fear in political circles, cutting across party lines, was that of horse trading, which would have affected all parties. Not a single party was confident of its legislators voting as per its directive.

Money power has always played a big role in the Rajya Sabha elections in the State. Each single vote fetches Rs.10-20 lakhs, depending on the stakes. In this case too, all the political parties were afraid of cross-voting; hence the rush to prevent Nanda from contesting. Now, the 10 regular candidates have already been declared elected. Suri, the only candidate for the byelection, he will be declared elected "unopposed" on November 18.

Although the major challenge to the government's survival may have blown over, it still sits on a tinderbox. The BJP, cracking the whip, has decided to disqualify all those 10 MLAs who signed Nanda's nomination papers. The BSP, whose lone MLA Jaiprakash Yadav had raised the banner of revolt, has decided to disqualify him.

But there is a minor snag here. The coming byelection for one Legislative Council seat could put the government's majority status on test again. In the fray are Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) candidate Munna Singh, who has the backing of the ruling coalition, and Yashwant Singh, who has the support of the S.P. and independent MLAs. Interestingly, all those MLAs earmarked for disqualification, will be eligible to vote in the byelection since there is no provision to bar anyone from voting in the interim period.

The Damocles' sword still hangs over the government. But having been blessed with an over-protective Governor and a proactive Speaker, the government can still sit pretty. But only until the next session, which is due in March. The fire will, however, continue to smoulder. Mulayam Singh Yadav retreated to Himachal Pradesh once it became known that the government was not going to be thrown out, but he will continue to stoke the fire.

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