Mayawati: Queen in her cocoon...

Lucknow: The presence of the part of Gomti Nagar which houses the sprawling 123-acre Ambedkar Memorial and the old city in a single visual frame explaining Lucknow makes it look like a badly done cut and paste job. One is, a medieval dream come alive in modern times and the other, a picture of civic chaos and decay; one a shining symbol of political hubris and extravagance and the other a tell-tale story of neglect. There are enough concrete structures and glass-fronted buildings making up the middle space. But they fail hopelessly short to provide consistency to the visual narrative. Both are signs of a self-indulgent and indifferent government. Between these contrasting pictures lies the story of the failure of Mayawati. Election is due in Lucknow on 19 but the excitement about it is not palpable. The mood seems in agreement with the character of the city — silent, brooding and comfortable with itself. However, if you scratch the surface, you detect anger, a lot of it. “Look around. See the mess. Do you think we have a government that works?’’ asks the gentleman who has become my guide from the Chowk area to Khala Bazaar. Traffic chaos, damaged roads, piling garbage, goats moving around aimlessly, shops extending unto the roads and the general disarray around – yes, all this do not make for a pretty picture. Old city areas across India are a bit messy but in Lucknow it is something else. [caption id=“attachment_214724” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“AFP”]  [/caption] The civic body, obviously, has failed. Apparently it is struggling for funds. “All the money went into those statues,” explained the gentleman helpfully. He was referring to the sand-stone statues at the Ambedkar Memorial. The paanwala turns out to be a reservoir of knowledge on political matters. The BSP is going to lose and the Samajwadi Party will get good number of seats. The BJP and the Congress will end up third and fourth, he says, adding, SP and Congress will form government together. That is the general assessment of the man on the street. “Mayawati needs to be taught a lesson. People have chosen a chief minister, not a maharani. This woman spends government money like it is her father’s property. Look at the corruption. Where do her diamonds come from? From public money obviously,’’ he says. His friend chips in: “Her votes are in the villages. She understands that. She also understands that urban voters are fickle. Why should she be worried about this place? She has left it to rot.” Zaheer Mustafa, editor of Urdu daily In Dino, says the anger is in no way misplaced. He, however, takes the explanation of the popular disenchantment to another level. Mayawati has deliberately distanced herself from people by making herself inaccessible, he says. “She neither goes out often nor addresses public meetings nor meets the press. It is difficult even for party MLAs to raise their problems before her, forget the common man. She gets easily irritated and has no patience to hear things out. She has no ears for news that is uncomfortable to her. And the punishment for any indiscretion is swift. This way she has closed herself to the outside world. This kind of approach certainly hits administration,’’ he says. The Brahmins who joined her in 2007 had expected that she would allow them to play a role in party affairs, but that has not happened. Even the Dalits don’t play any role in decision-making. That has created a lot of disenchantment in both the groups. “Basically, she does not trust anyone. She does not allow the party to address situations that require a political response. A cabinet secretary reads out her response and that is how it works in all cases. If she survives, it will be because of the strong organisation she has created,” Mustafa says. The spate of corruption charges against her and her brother, Anand Kumar — who the BJP alleges runs at least 26 companies which registered phenomenal growth after Mayawati came to power —has dented her public image. He is alleged to have benefitted from the land deals in Noida, which later led to farmers’ agitations. In addition, there’s the extravagance in the construction of parks. Mayawati certainly has distanced herself from people more than one way. Her problems are of her own making. The fear among people is if she gets a repeat mandate, the state will be ruined. “Tab to woh aur ek Taj Mahal bana legi. Hum log yahin baithe rahenge soch soch ke kya ho raha he,” says the paanwala’s friend.