2009 Poll Prospects And Alignments-2

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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->POOR HINDUS WE ARE. CAUGHT IN THE CLUTCHES OF SECULAR POLITICAL PARTIES THAT ARE JUST DIFFERENT ROOMS IN THE SAME BUILDING FOR THESE OPPORTUNISTIC DECEIVERS TO ENTER AND EXIT AT WILL, THERE IS NO ONE TO TALK FOR US OR DEFEND FOR US BUT WE ALWAYS THINK ONE OR THE OTHER OF THESE ROOMS IS GREATER OR BETTER. HOW SILLY!<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

<b>Kalyan Singh’s predicament
</b>

The New Indian Express

Both Mulayam Singh Yadav and Kalyan Singh seem to have realised that jumping in and out of the secular-communal divide is not an easy proposition. The customary cynicism of politicians may have initially made them think otherwise.

Besides, there have been a number of instances of such migrations from one ideological camp to another, such as K C Pant’s from the Congress to the BJP and Shankar Sinh Vaghela’s from the BJP to the Congress. But Kalyan Singh’s case is different on two counts. One is that he may have played the game once too often considering that he has now left the BJP twice in search of greener pastures. Even in a political atmosphere known for sharp practice, such fickleness may not always pass muster.

His other disadvantage in the matter of finding a space for himself among the secularists is his unsavoury, in the eyes of the latter, background.

Since he did nothing as UP chief minister to stop the demolition of the Babri Masjid and later accepted the Supreme Court’s reprimand for this “failure” with a proud smile, Kalyan Singh is not exactly a favourite where the minorities and the liberals are concerned. It is this realisation that has apparently made Mulayam Singh Yadav have second thoughts about a tie-up with him. The Samajwadi Party leader may have earlier seen an alliance with the BJP rebel in terms of a consolidation of the backward caste and anti-BJP vote banks. To this end, he went to the extent of accommodating Kalyan Singh’s son in the Samajwadi Party.

But the Muslim factor has evidently made him rethink his tactics, especially in view of reports that Mayawati will hold out an olive branch to those members of the minority community who will desert Mulayam Singh Yadav. It is the same nervousness about how the Muslims will react to Kalyan Singh’s induction that explained the Congress’s uneasiness about the Samajwadi Party’s expediency. It will be relieved now that Mulayam Singh Yadav is backing off although an informal understanding between the two OBC leaders cannot be ruled out. For the present, however, Kalyan Singh may find himself in a predicament analogous to Trishanku’s in the Mahabharata. One way out for him is to completely disown his past, but such a renunciation is more likely to be seen as an insincere manoeuvre than as a genuine change of heart.

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.a...TvPHj2dDBzTNA==