DELHI THE HINDU 8 EDITORIAL TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2019 EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE A chessboard called Uttar Pradesh It’s do or die for all three in U.P. — the BJP and its resurgent rivals, the SP-BSP combine and the Congress to overtake the BJP. But then came party’s deep coffers and the old it is arithmetic that clinched the the Modi Government’s announce­ chestnut of communal polarisa­ deal. Together the SP and the BSP ment of a 10% quota in education tion did the rest. In 2019, the rivals are match winners and have been Shot in the arm and jobs for the general category. are a savvier lot, with their own so in every election since 1993 Into this cocktail has now been ad­ caste arithmetic and PR tricks. when they first beat the BJP. In­ The Supreme Court’s ruling eases the ded the Priyanka Vadra factor, the It is a given that the Modi­Shah deed, statistics show that together implementation of the IBC in knotty cases V idya Subrahmaniam consequences of which are as yet pair will not stand by while their they will have likely stopped the unclear, aside from its electrifying opponents strategise to defeat BJP’s conquest of Delhi, whether ast week’s Supreme Court judg ment upholding effect on the morale of the Con­ them. Reports suggest that the in 1998, 1999, or even in 2014. In the validity of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy riyanka Gandhi Vadra’s gress cadre. The Congress, which 10% general quota has enthused 1998, the BJP’s vote share from LCode 2016 (IBC) in its “entirety” could have a ma­ bombshell induction into the had been left out of the SP­BSP the alienated upper castes. Wheth­ U.P. was 36.49%. In the same elec­ jor impact on the country’s economic landscape. The PCongress and her being gi­ deal, has since acquired a swagger er this group will be diverted in tion, the SP­BSP had a combined ven the charge of East Uttar Pra­ which it is showing off for all to AFP part to the Congress because of vote of 49.60%. In 1999, the partn­ fledgling IBC has been severely tested in the two years desh just ahead of the general see. SP­BSP alliance or the Congress, Ms. Vadra remains to be seen but ers had 46% to the BJP’s 27.64%. since its enactment, with the Centre being forced to election did the one thing pre­ Admittedly, there will be more must ensure precisely the oppo­ her entry undoubtedly poses a And in 2014, they lagged behind amend a couple of its provisions in order to plug some viously unimaginable. It caused a twists with the near certainty of site result because the stakes are threat to this previously solid BJP but only by a few decimal points. loopholes that enabled defaulting borrowers to chal­ little tsunami in the TV studios schemes tailored for U.P. in the equally high for them with three vote bank. A resurgent Congress Today, the two parties look for­ lenge the legislation. Any law of this nature that takes habitually glued to the movements Union Budget. The frantic one­up­ crucial objectives to be met: dis­ can also chip away at the SP­BSP’s midable. They have got the Rash­ over businesses and assets from defaulters and empow­ of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. manship between the parties in lodge the Modi g overnment, en­ Muslim support. The biggest plus triya Lok Dal on board, and are ers lenders to change the management is bound to face India Today TV set its fetching U.P. owes itself to the State’s fabled sure their own survival in the point for the Congress is the good­ looking to add smaller Other Back­ photo feature on Ms. Vadra to the role in deciding who wins and who State, and have a shot at forming will it has always enjoyed in U.P. ward Classes (OBC)­based parties. legal challenges. Borrowers were never going to take 1980’s Bollywood hit song, “ Bijli sinks at the national level. Alth­ the next government. On the other hand, it has no core Realising that the OBC castes are the IBC lying down, and that is exactly what happened; girane mei hun aayee (I’ve come ough at least three governments, With equations changing con­ constituency that can act as a pivot vital for victory, the BJP fused over the last two years, they have challenged various as­ like a thunderbolt).” Anchors led each by the Congress and two stantly and ever new inputs caus­ to attract other castes and them together brilliantly in 2014. pects of the law in tribunals and courts. In the event, across channels debated the ‘Pri­ versions of the United Front, in ing the poll arithmetic to undergo communities. This time the advantage of social the apex court’s stamp of approval on the entire Code is yanka game­changer.’ 1991 and 1996­1998, have made it rewrites, is it possible at all to engineering could be with the SP­ a strong signal to borrowers and banks even as it brings to Delhi bypassing U.P., the belief guess who will stand where in U.P. A deeper reading BSP alliance. If the combine’s vote a sense of relief to the Centre, which has been watching A fusion and shift remains that the way to the nation­ when the last vote is counted? On The SP­BSP alliance was not meant share crosses the one­third mark, Yet, for all the hype around Ms. Va­ al capital is via Lucknow. The rea­ paper, the BJP is unassailable. But to happen, and if it has happened, it could even benefit from the one of its better economic initiatives being stifled by dra’s wild card entry, it is not the son for this is the BJP’s critical de­ the U.P. of today is not the U.P. of it is only because the situation was three­way split. vested interests. first big thing to happen this elec­ pendence on U.P. Whether in 2014 or even 2017. Demonetisa­ dire for both of them. The partn­ If the alliance brings itself to do One of the major challenges mounted against the IBC tion season. That credit goes to the 1996, when it emerged as the lar­ tion, which powered the BJP’s ers had no future individually. The one more thing, it could become was by operational creditors, who are owed money by Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Ba­ gest single party and briefly held 2017 victory, has recoiled on the BJP’s vice­like hold on the State unbeatable. And that is to stop the company in the normal course of operations for hujan Samaj Party (BSP) which power for 13 days, or in 1998, 1999 poor. State Chief Minister Yogi Ad­ and its resources meant that the chasing the chimera of upper supply of goods and services. In the payment waterfall closed a breathtaking deal just and 2014, when it formed full­ ityanath’s cow­centric policies respective cadre of the SP and the caste votes and pitch itself as a prescribed under Section 53 of the IBC in the event of li­ weeks earlier. The alliance was fledged governments at the have deepened the woes of farm­ BSP had no hope for the foreseea­ protector of OBCs and reservation, quidation of the company or its sale to another entity, between two subaltern forces, Centre, U.P. has been central to ers already in distress even as the ble future. No party can indefinite­ as against the BJP which has re­ each with a committed vote base, the party’s successes. targeted killings of Muslims, sizea­ ly retain its rank and file without turned to its u pper caste roots their dues rank below those of financial creditors, work­ the fusion of which was capable of ble at 20% of the population, have the carrot of an electoral triumph with the 10% general quota. Will men and employees. This was challenged by the opera­ effecting a tectonic shift in the State’s poll arithmetic left the community feeling under and a realistic chance at the loaves they do it? tional creditors, who wanted equal treatment with fi­ power politics of U.P. The two had Consider U.P.’s role in making BJP siege. and fishes of office. The arithmetic At the time of writing , Rahul nancial creditors in the waterfall mechanism. Several been bitter enemies before but governments at the Centre. In So even in a static political situa­ of togetherness, ignored earlier, Gandhi had promised a minimum landmark cases that were referred to the National Com­ have buried the hatchet realising 1996, 52 of the party’s total seats of tion, the BJP would have found it could no longer be overlooked. Af­ income for the poor. How the BJP pany Law Tribunal under the IBC remain stuck there, the match­winning potential of 161 came from U.P. In 1998, 57 out hard to repeat its 2014 perfor­ ter the failure of their last unity ex­ tops that will be known on Febru­ including that of the high­profile Essar Steel, as a result their combined strength. The sto­ of 182. In 1999, 29 out of 182. And mance. In 2014 as well as in 2017, periment in 1993, the SP and the ary 1. ry of the SP­BSP threatened to be in 2014, exceeding all expecta­ the BJP beat its opponents in every BSP had resolutely resisted team­ of its operational creditors seeking equal treatment.