BSP

The whole drama about reservations for Muslims and its politics – primarily in Uttar Pradesh

For the past few days, in addition to the many caste calculations going on in the UP electoral scene, there is another twist that has been added to the whole discourse. This is related to political parties trying to attract the Muslim vote and what they can do for it. Now, getting support from a community is not a problem, but doing it only for electoral purposes and at the time of elections continues to be a problem, especially when it is so blatant.
A series of reports over the years have concluded that Indian muslims over the years have a level of development which is lower than that of the general population, and nobody can really doubt these conclusions. Further, over the years, a number of trades that had traditionally a higher proportion of Muslims (such as weavers) were affected by economic movements, further reducing the economic growth of the community. These were items that the Governments of the day should have handled, with targeted economic and development measures that laid a lot of emphasis on economic development that would increase the empowerment level of Muslims in the country.
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BJP going against it’s anti-corruption campaign – inducting accused politicians for the UP polls

The BJP keeps on trying to portray itself as a party that is totally against corruption, very different from the corrupt practices of the Congress and other parties. As a part of this, the party has sought to put itself as the main supporter of the Lokpal campaign, and had sought a strong Lokpal so that an institution to stop the endemic corruption in Government can be put in place. But, from time to time, the BJP also takes steps that immediately portrays the party as being opportunistic and forces those looking for an alternative to the Congress to re-think.
We saw this in the whole drama in Karnataka. It was quite clear for some time that the Yeddyurappa Government in the state was corrupt, indulging in many corrupt practices. And the state of Karnataka was critical for the aims of the BJP in South India, a part of the country where the BJP does not really have much of a presence in terms of electoral seats (either in the state assembly or Parliament). And yet, what the BJP accomplished in Karnataka was drastically opposite to all this, with the party getting a name for having a high degree or corruption; and even when this was recognized, the party was unable to change the Chief Minister who was the embodiment of this corruption.
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The elections in Uttar Pradesh, key to the fortunes of all involved

Very rarely have the state elections in a specific state been so critical for the fortunes of everybody involved. Uttar Pradesh, being the most populous state of the country has always been critical for the political fortunes of the Government at the center. There was a time when it was said that nobody could come to power unless they had power in Uttar Pradesh, but that particular piece of logic has been consigned to the dustbin for more than the past 10 years now. Both, the previous NDA Government and the Current 2 runs of the UPA Government have not held any kind of dominant position in the state, and yet managed to run fairly stable Governments at the center.
In the past, both the Congress and the BJP have held huge political leadership in the state, but first the rise of the BJP as a party that played the Mandir-Masjid card managed to galvanize more power towards itself; but this was a short phenomenon, since the rise of parties representing the backwards has damaged the poll prospects of both the leading national parties (the Congress and the BJP). You had the emergence of 2 more parties that sought to claim the leadership of the backward communities, including the OBC, the Dalits, and the Muslims. Both these parties, namely the Samajwadi Party and the BSP have had power in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
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