It is yatra time for political outfits in Uttar Pradesh. After the tedious exercise of distribution of tickets for the coming Vidhan Sabha elections, several parties are now in the second phase of their poll preparations. It’s a different matter that the Congress is yet to finalise its number of candidates. The delay has been attributed to Sonia Gandhi’s absence due to her treatment abroad. Now that she is back, Congressmen are expecting to make up for the time lost in announcing candidates.

String-pulling has resumed as the probables are crowding around Rahul Gandhi to recommend their names in the second list. Though the first list had already been released, the next one may be finalised only during the auspicious days of Navratri.

As for the yatras, LK Advani is probably the first one to announce a country wide yatra. Of course, old timers recall how Advani has gained the expertise of the political yatras. Even in the past he is known for his rath yatra. Recently, the SP took out Kranti yatra on a bicycle, the party’s poll symbol, led by the party’s State president and SP Chief Mulayam Singh Yadav’s son Akhilesh.

Although the SP team received a good response and the partymen interacted with the masses, it was Akhilesh’s cycle that became the centre of attraction. And the reason — he was riding a foreign bicycle. The onlookers said: “Perhaps we are not so privileged. Bhaiyya (as Akhilesh is called) stands out in the gathering.” Some cyclists even enquired about the additional features of the foreign two-wheeler. The gathering assesses the strength, so the bigger the crowd the better it is.

The Congress and the RLD are certainly not behind in the yatra game. A wag said: “Remember how religious yatras were taken out for a darshan of the Gods. These days, the leaders are taking out yatras or hold meetings to appease the voters.

GUESSING GAME
The discussion in almost all the quarters is the same. All are talking about the numbers in the coming Vidhan Sabha elections. The BSP is tapping its sources and getting a detailed survey about the popularity of each party. Obviously none of the survey agencies have the courage to spell out the actual position.

Most of them have painted a rosy picture for the BSP, lest it incurs the wrath of Mayawati. A party insider said: “You can take it for granted that once more the BSP will be ahead of the other parties. It will be the single largest party with Mayawati leading the State again. This is because the Opposition has no plan, they have not done anything for the masses.”

If you pay a visit to the Secretariat, you can hear the buzz right from the junior most level to senior bureaucrats. The common question being asked is, “Which party will emerge as the single largest party in the coming Vidhan Sabha elections?, Which party will form the next Government?, Will it be a coalition Government or will a party gain absolute majority?”

There are a number of answers supported by logistics. All the possibilities are being debated upon. According to some the BSP will once again come to power, while others are betting that the SP will be the single largest party and form the Government with the help of the Congress and RLD. Still others do not rule out the possibility of another alliance between the BSP and the BJP. Anyway the discussion is gaining momentum as the elections are drawing near.

US PATS UP
The US has recently lauded the efforts of two Chief Ministers — Gujarat’s Narendra Modi and UP’s Mayawati for their efforts in development of their respective States. But why Mayawati when there are so many allegations by the Opposition accusing her of corruption. Even the Ministers in her Cabinet have been indicted by the Lokayukta for their involvement in corruption. The silver lining to all the allegations is that the US report states that Mayawati has done commendable work in constructing highways and in the power sector.

Believe it or not, several highways have huge bill boards drawing the attention of the commuters that the rugged patches on the roads are a result of Centre’s apathy since it belongs to the NHAI and is thus out of the purview of the State Government.

The foreign media has its own imitable ways of functioning. Remember how the controversy generated out of the WikiLeaks item created a ripple in the Mayawati Government. The heated debate drew to a close following Mayawati’s denials to the entire episode.