Mayawati makes UPA's Prez a reality

NEW DELHI: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati on Tuesday threw BSP’s weight behind Sonia Gandhi’s candidate for the president’s post. Although there was some uncertainty over the BSP’s support, the announcement will help the Congress to deal with the Left as well as allies like DMK in its negotiations over the presidential candidate.

At a press conference, where she declared support for Ms Gandhi’s nominee, the chief minister attempted to reject allegations that her party was indulging in ‘bargain-counter politics’. Having secured a deal on the Taj corridor case, Tuesday’s press conference was about Mayawati’s effort to create the impression that discussions with the Congress president and UPA chairperson over the presidential candidate were part and parcel of the process of brokering an honest political deal.

Mayawati declared that a consensus had been reached with the Congress on the UPA presidential candidate. But she declined to name the candidate or even the names that were up for discussion. This clearly indicated that she was ready to back Sonia Gandhi’s choice for the President’s post. The BSP leader spoke of a democratic process and consensus when it came to deciding who her party would support in the presidential elections. “Yesterday, Congress president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi met me at my place and we spoke over dinner. A few names were discussed and a consensus was reached,” Ms Mayawati said.

In an effort to drive home her point that there was no quid pro quo, the Uttar Pradesh chief minister spoke of how her party has always been opposed to communal forces and will continue to be so. In other words, her support for the UPA presidential candidate was not in return for the 200-page affidavit penned by additional solicitor-general Gopal Subramaniam stating that there was no case against the BSP leader in the Taj corridor case, nor was it a ‘thank you’ to the Congress for risking judicial admonishment for the UPA government from the apex court.

She said the BSP’s support for the UPA presidential candidate, whosoever it might be, was for the greater good of checking communal forces. For good measure, Mayawati said, “On the question of supporting the UPA or NDA candidate for President, I want to clarify that the BSP is against communal forces. I will not support any NDA candidate or a candidate which is supported by the NDA.”

Mayawati may have developed an abhorrence for the politics of the BJP and NDA since she was elected as Uttar Pradesh chief minister last month, but the fact is that the last three times she occupied the top seat in Lucknow, it was with the help of the BJP. Not wanting to take a chance with public memory, she volunteered an explanation.

“You may be thinking about the three times that BSP formed the government in UP with the help of the BJP. I am sure you are surprised by what I said. I want to clarify that I made the choice keeping in mind UP’s special circumstances and the good of the people of the state. On those occasions no party had an absolute majority, so parties were compelled to join hands. I was ready for fresh polls, but the people of UP were not. Even as BSP joined hands with the BJP, we were true to our principles, which is why I gave up power before my time.”

Ms Mayawati didn’t stop at providing an explanation, going for the kill, she made political virtue out of expediency. “I did take help from the BJP, but under no circumstance did I allow communal forces to gain the upper hand,” she said. Of course, the BSP chief did not mention that she had campaigned for Narendra Modi, dubbed the ‘poster boy’ for the forces of communalism, in the last Gujarat assembly elections in December 2002. Instead, she chose to find virtue in joining hands with the BJP as a way to avoid “placing a burden on the people of UP” which a fresh round of polls would entail.

Papering over the adversarial position between the Congress and the BSP in Uttar Pradesh, and the need to maintain a separate position till after the recent assembly elections, Mayawati said, “When the UPA was formed Sonia Gandhi wanted the BSP to be a part of the government. But we said that we will support you from the outside to keep the communal parties out.” And in yet another attempt to distance herself from her usual bargaining style of politics, Mayawati said that her party was not bargaining for the position of vice-president.