Early last month, Rashtriya Lok Dal president and Union civil aviation minister Ajit Singh criticised former chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh saying politics in the state had long been fuelled by caste, crime and cash, which, in turn, were responsible for its backwardness.
In Battleground UP: Politics in the Land of Ram, the authors?Manish Tiwari and Rajan Pandey?push the swipe a step further to add three more ?Cs? to the list?communal forces, customs and character?factors that have often decided the fate of a state that sends the largest number of legislators to the Parliament and is often considered one of the most politically volatile yet significant states in the country.
The book is the result of a part-discovery, part-journalistic approach to a complex democratic set-up that is Uttar Pradesh, in the run-up to the 2012 state Assembly elections. It goes on an offensive against the forces that dramatically ended the jumbo run of Mayawati and highlights the son-rise of the ?lesser Yuvraj?, Akhilesh Yadav, in the legendary Land of Ram. In between, it delves into the efforts of other major contenders to the coveted CM?s throne, BJP?whose anti-corruption Rath Yatra in 2011 failed to stop the Samajwadi Party?s ?Ummeed ki Cycle??and the grand old party of India, the Congress, whose young, Cambridge-returned scion couldn?t take on the grassroots connect initiatives of Team Akhilesh.
Like any war zone worth its bullet, Battleground UP encompasses real tales of blood and tears, strategies and counter-strategies, and comes out victorious in many aspects. It retains the flavour of first-hand reportage (quotes in their original Hindi dialects are fun to read and transport readers directly to the hinterlands of UP) as much as the ?colour? or ?mood? elements, as hardcore print journalists would like to swear by.
Save a few grammatical glitches?surprising, considering Tiwari?s long stint with the print media?Battleground UP is a ready reckoner for all those who want to immerse themselves in the socio-political milieu of Uttar Pradesh. Replete with case studies and background checks and balances, the book makes for an interesting study material, but sans the tables, appendices or footnotes associated with textbook tomes.
In his first annual Budget presented in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly in February this year, CM Akhilesh Yadav promised an ?Uttam Pradesh? to his people, echoing the tall claims of other state leaders in the past. In the words of the authors, ?Power has changed hands but its character has not changed?.
Kunal Doley