Utter (chaos) Pradesh

It is becoming increasingly evident that Mulayam Singh Yadav's government ? perhaps not unlike Uttar Pradesh itself ? is held together by bandages that are fast losing their adhesive quality, or utility.

It is becoming increasingly evident that Mulayam Singh Yadav's government — perhaps not unlike Uttar Pradesh itself — is held together by bandages that are fast losing their adhesive quality, or utility. With the Allahabad High Court verdict announcing that the defection of the 40 BSP MLAs to the Samajwadi Party in August-September 2003 violated "the law of natural justice", Mr Yadav registers another violent tug at the carpet on which he and his partymen stand. The chief minister may have appeared masterly in countering the court judgment with a quick trust vote on the floor of the assembly, but the strength of numbers cannot hide the fact that Mr Yadav is on a very sticky wicket.

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We could well add that the SP's moral right to govern has eroded to a point of no-return. But then, contemporary politics is rarely concerned about morality. The fact that the case of 40 renegade MLAs switching sides to help Mr Yadav form a government some 30 months ago was speedily — too speedily — given the clean chit by the then UP assembly speaker Keshari Nath Tripathi also points to a dangerous systemic vacuum that exists in Indian politics. In the aftermath of the fall of the Mayawati government, 13 BSP MLAs left the party on August 27, 2003 to first form an independent group in the assembly. They then joined the SP, which under Mr Yadav was required to prove its majority so as to form the new government. In a matter of days, another 27 MLAs walked out of the BSP to make the incremental switch to the SP. By recognising the splinter group, Mr Tripathi ensured that the anti-defection law was not broken. It is this circuitous route taken by the then Speaker that has now been deemed as a breach of law.