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10 DEMOCRACY AT WORK MUMBAI | 20 JANUARY 2019 1 > Anxious ticket seekers DID THEY REALLY SAY THAT? CHECKLIST As election fever rises, so does the anxiety of ticket seekers. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah was in hospital suffering from flu but even here, people GATHBANDHAN-MAKING: ALLIANCES IN THE PIPELINE wanting to press their claims for a BJP nomination in the Lok Sabha simply would- I Tamil Nadu: efforts are on to forge an alliance Ittehadul Muslimeen, YSR Congress and others. n’t stop calling on him. The BJP is facing a funny kind of problem: Following between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena has not yet indicate announcements by a handful of its senior leaders that they would not fight the Lok All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam which way it will go Sabha elections, the party is besieged with people wanting to become their replace- (AIADMK), currently in power in the state. The Bihar: All the parties opposed to the BJP-Janata CHATTERBOX ments. The problem is particularly acute in Uttarakhand where at least out of five BJP problem is, the BJP has had a past history of Dal United alliance have come out and formed an MPs — General BC Khanduri and BS Koshiyari — have said they will not contest the committing itself to a Kazhagangal illa alliance. JDU leader Nitish Kumar is dismissive 2019 elections. The same is the case with Vidisha represented by Sushma Swaraj and Tamizhagam (a Kazhagam-less Tamil Nadu). And about the front. Jhansi where Uma Bharati became an MP. Both have said they will opt out in 2019. the AIADMK is wary of letting the lotus bloom in West Bengal: the Trinamool Congress has ruled In the Congress, the situation is a little different. The party spokesperson Priyanka the state at its expense. Moreover, in the past, the out an alliance with the Congress but has Chaturvedi has said she wants to contest from Mumbai. Maharashtra leader Ashok BJP has had alliances with the DMK as well. indicated it will be part of the federal front. It has Chavan would prefer to fight the assembly elections and wants his wife to contest the However, talks are going on. also said its post-poll options will be open. Nanded Lok Sabha seat which, from all accounts, he has all but wrapped up, via a deal Andhra Pradesh and Telangana: a Federal Front, Maharashtra: Raju Shetty’s Swabhiman Paksha with the Majlis e Ittehad ul Muslimeen (MIM). And in Tamil Nadu, while Dravida a coalition of parties to keep out the Congress, BJP has walked out of the BJP alliance and has joined Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader Stalin might have crowned Rahul Gandhi his par- “I may not agree with their thoughts but I and Telugu Desam Party is being negotiated under the Congress Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) ty’s choice for PM, the party is not in a mood to concede too many seats in the Lok Sabha. cannot help admiring their consistency and the leadership of K Chandrashekhar Rao. As the grouping. The Left is likely to join it as well. The But the upside is, former prime minister Manmohan Singh might get to represent Tamil commitment towards organisation building, BJP is a limited force in these two states, the presence of all these groups including the something those adhering to our socialist Nadu in the Rajya Sabha: An offer has been made, as his term as MP from Assam comes ideology never excelled at.” alliance will ultimately work against the Congress- Congress will restrict the maneuverability of the to an end next year. So expect a big upheaval but the bottom line is: the Congress which TDP combine and in favour of the BJP. The alliance NCP to jump ship even if it wants to, after the Bihar Chief minister Nitish Kumar about the RSS, was ruled out of all races as politically unbank-able has now entered the ring as well. January 15, Patna comprises smaller parties like the Majlis e elections. OPINION How was your first meeting with the the first Muslim woman MP (Tabassum Hasan) Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) President from UP to the Lok Sabha in a long time. If the THERESA MAY Mayawati? What was the ice-breaker? leaders work together, the workers get the mes- It was very good because our goals are the sage and there’s no bitterness on the ground. same. This is the way we will win the elections. Should the UK Unlike your father, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Why didn’t you want the Congress in your who worked with Mayawati for some time gathbandhan? ILLUSTRATION: BINAY SINHA BINAY ILLUSTRATION: in a coalition government, you hardly We have left two seats (Amethi and Rae Bareli) remain a member knew her until now... for Congress. Congress should help us in the That’s not true. I know her as much as Netaji other seats. That’s the meaning of a maha- (Mulayam). She and I were MPs around the gathbandhan (grand alliance). of the EU? same time. I always respected her. The Congress can take away your votes, omorrow, Members of Parliament will cast their votes on The SP-BSP relations were terribly bitter. those of the minorities.... the Withdrawal Agreement on the terms of our depar- Did she ever bring up the State Guest Congress should think in the country’s interest T ture from the European Union and the Political House incident (of June 2, 1995) when she and decide who they want to help, the BJP or Declaration on our future relationship. was attacked by your party workers? our alliance. That vote in Westminster is a direct consequence of the No, never. votes that were cast by people here in Stoke, and in cities, But there’s still an element of distrust towns and villages in every corner of the United Kingdom. Was Mayawati different from how you’d among Muslims towards Mayawati In June 2016, the British people were asked by MPs to take imagined her to be? because of her past a decision: Should the United Kingdom remain a member of Not at all. She’s as committed to dealings with the BJP. the European Union or should we leave? upholding democracy as I am, This is BJP’s disinformation. In that campaign, both sides disagreed on many things, but she is as committed to our Now SP and BSP are seen on the on one thing they were united: what the British people decid- alliance as I am. It was a good same platform, so how can any- ed, the politicians would implement. political decision on her part one distrust BSP? And she In the run-up to the vote, the government sent a leaflet to and the country has welcomed (Mayawati) has sacrificed so every household making the case for remain. It stated very it. Both of us felt the people’s many seats to save democracy clearly: ‘This is your decision. The government will imple- pulse and responded accord- from the BJP. AKHILESH YADAV ment what you decide.’ ingly. Those were the terms on which people cast their votes. President, Samajwadi Party In the presser you If a majority had backed remain, the UK would have con- What is the USP of your addressed with Mayawati, tinued as an EU member state. gathbandhan? The BJP is you diplomatically No doubt the disagreements would have continued too, still strong in UP, the upper parried a question on but the vast majority of people would have had no truck with Akhilesh Yadav, the Samajwadi Party president, was the fulcrum of an Opposition coalition in Uttar castes are rallying around I don’t know how some whether you want to see an argument that we should leave the EU in spite of a vote to Pradesh put together to challenge the Bharatiya Janata Party. The gathbandhan includes the it.. political experts are saying Mayawati as the next PM. remain or that we should return to the question in another ref- Bahujan Samaj Party and smaller entities representing castes and the minorities but excludes the The USP is, both of us are pro- they (BJP) will return with The PM can be from any- erendum. Congress. Radhika Ramaseshan met Yadav at his Lucknow office and spoke about the prospects of development, pro-growth and 74 seats, one more than where. But I will be happiest On the rare occasions when Parliament puts a question to this gathbandhan and whether the Congress could be a part of it in the future. Edited excerpts: pro-infrastructure. How can the what they got in 2014. The if the PM is from UP. UP is the British people directly we have always understood that their BJP dub us as backward? Don’t UP government has done spearheading the battle to response carries a profound significance. the backward castes use the nothing but shilanyas on stop the BJP from coming to When the people of Wales voted by a margin of 0.3%, on a metro rail? Are there separate top of an earlier shilanyas power so the next PM must turnout of just over 50%, to endorse the creation of the Welsh seating arrangements for the (foundation-laying). This is be from UP. Assembly, that result was accepted by Parliament. ‘Federal front can backward castes? I don’t have unprecedented in the Indeed we have never had a referendum in the United to prove my commitment to world. Our chief minister Do you think the “federal Kingdom that we have not honoured the result of.

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