Will Gupta murder end Maya's party politics?

NEW DELHI: BSP chief Mayawati has, defying upper caste sniggers, astutely turned her birthday party into an effective tool to harness Dalit aspirations for BSP. Now, the very same grandiose event threatens to make her vulnerable among the ���savarna��� population she is courting to propel herself to the Centre.

The political temperature across UP shot up on Thursday as SP took to the streets to protest the PWD engineer���s killing in Auraiya. The UP CM has refused to give the case to CBI, vehemently denying that accused MLA Shekhar Tiwari was collecting money for her birthday contributions and that refusing him cost engineer Manoj Gupta his life.

But the lynching has brought the January 15 mega birthday bash under a cloud, with rivals alleging a linkage between the ������contributions������ that are solicited for the event and Gupta���s murder.

A conflict between BSP���s tools of Dalit politics and the sensitivities of the new constituency was expected. Mayawati must have factored that in when she decided to venture beyond her base. Gupta���s murder has precipitated the collision. At the core of the post-Auraiya outrage are hostile perceptions about the ostentatious event.

Engineer was brutally thrashed, finds autopsy

The postmortem report of slain Uttar Pradesh PWD executive engineer Manoj Gupta says the assailants had hit him hard on his head, breaking his skull. There were nearly 14 injury marks on the victim���s body, apparently inflicted with sharp-edged weapons. The body also had burn marks, which suggested that Gupta was given electric shocks. P 9

Maya���s birthdays have always been glitzy affairs

Lynching of the PWD engineer Manoj Gupta has brought Mayawati���s January 15 mega birthday bash under a cloud, with rivals alleging a linkage between the ������contributions������ that are solicited for the event and Gupta���s murder.

Dalits have lapped up the cake-cutting Mayawati as the strongest symbol of their arrival, representing their rebellion against the ������discriminatory set-up������. Upper castes resented the lavish, if gawdy, celebrations as ������vainglory������. But for the traditional BSP constituent, the dismissal of this celebration as ������vanity������ couched a bias, an unwillingness to accept from a Dalit what is routinely done by other leaders.

The pomp associated with January 15 triggered a conflict immediately when it was introduced in the BSP calendar as an annual event in 2001, when Mayawati had just become the CM for third time.

The stage had a lifesize cake, shining diamonds, obsequious bureaucrats and state resources ��� it evoked strong sentiments. BJP, which propped her, immediately became the butt of jokes among its Thakur-Brahman-Bania base. A combative Mayawati, as if waiting for reaction, raised the glitz, triggered more hostility and ensured stronger consolidation of Dalits behind her.

Mayawati���s birthday became the singular big event in the BSP bluebook. If it was a day for ������arthik sahyog������, it was also the ������political Valentine day������ for the wannabe allies. Bouquets from Sonia Gandhi to BJP have come at critical political junctures. So far, so good. Even then, it was evident that the BSP supremo���s birthday politics would be thrown open to scrutiny the moment she reached out to the constituency which sees it as ������vanity������.

It courted controversy earlier also, as the money associated with it triggered a shrill campaign from SP and BJP. But Mayawati was focused on Dalits who would not bother about charges. If anything, the attack helped.

But with BSP trying to make a transition from ������bahujan������ to ������sarvjan������, Mayawati may have to look at the need to improvise her mobilisational tools ��� the birthday party being the prime candidate for change.

It is not for nothing that while Auraiya has sent a frisson through UP, it is the birthday which is under public attack. As the opposition has realised, an incident closer to birthday, associated with money, removes the buffer between crime and the CM. What compounds the misery is that it is seen as corroborating the charges of corruption and criminality. Both sensitive issues with upper caste constituents. More so, because they relate to a Dalit.