Maya’s Pilibhit dilemma

BJP’s Pilibhit candidate Varun Gandhi was in enough trouble already for his anti Muslim speeches with a spate of FIRs filed against him. Why did UP CM Mayawati follow it up by invoking the draconian NSA as well? Debashish Mukerji reports.

Why use a sledgehammer to kill — or in this case severely punish — a fly?

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BJP’s Pilibhit candidate Varun Gandhi was in enough trouble already for his anti Muslim speeches with a spate of FIRs filed against him. Why did Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati follow it up by invoking the draconian National Security Act (NSA) as well?

All of Friday, when Varun withdrew his anticipatory bail plea and announced his decision to return to Pilibhit the next day, the signals emanating from Lucknow indicated he would not even be arrested. If he sought arrest — as indeed he did — he would be told that investigations into the cases were not yet complete, and sent away. With Lok Sabha polls in the offing, Mayawati’s government did not want to take any step that would evoke sympathy for Varun and thereby improve his and the BJP’s poll prospects.

If a very different script was ultimately enacted over the next two days, it was clearly because another political consideration prevailed. The BSP realised that Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party could interpret any softness on Mayawati’s part in dealing in Varun as evidence of her collusion with the BJP. UP Muslims have not forgotten that on all the three previous occasions that Mayawati became chief minister, she did so with BJP support.

It was a hard choice between giving an electoral boost to either the SP or the BJP. Mayawati’s decision shows which party she considers her main opponent. In any case, given the BJP’s poor standing in the state — partymen do not expect their LS tally, out of 80 seats, to cross double figures — allowing it to seek sympathy votes will hurt her party far less than yielding any advantage to the SP.