After UP verdict, uphill road for Yogi

UP CM Yogi Adityanath paid a surprise visit to the Hazratganj Police Station in Lucknow to check general preparedness and said the rule of law will be established in the state. PIC: @CMOfficeUP

It does not take the acumen of a Chanakya to explain what the poll results in the five states imply and convey to the stakeholders. In a country which was widely expected, before the last Lok Sabha elections, to be polarized on the basis of religion, the results are a positive but surprising eye-opener. But what’s in store for the electorate is something everyone’s looking at. A case in point is the thumping majority with which the BJP won the Hindi heartland state of Uttar Pradesh. Was it a referendum on the demonetization ‘surgical strike’ or was it the equivalent of a ‘mid-term’ assessment of the central government? It turns it was neither; the mood of the state was to give a clear majority than giving a fractured mandate. For a party which did not field even one candidate from the minority community, the response it got is staggering. The newly formed government should keep in mind the issues of the minority community and the marginalized sections aren’t ignored. Parties which were hoping to cash in on the majority vs minority plank came a cropper. In the ultimate analysis, apart from the anti-incumbency factor, it was the confidence of the electorate in the promises and the trust that percolated in the rallies that finally turned the tables and gave a decisive win. The new chief minister has a lot to deliver and it is a welcome thing that he has started on it in right earnest from day one. Without mincing words and yet not taking on an aggressive or hostile tone, he has made his ‘to-do’ list. Some of the things Adityanath Yogi has announced are remarkable and long over-due. No beacon-fitted cars and vehicles for the ministers, no special security, ban on paan, gutka and plastic bags during working hours in the office are small but vital for the initial welcome measures. The new CM taking over the Home portfolio has sent the right signals. The move to initiate squads to nab unruly and illegal activities, anti-Romeo squads to check harassment of women folk. These are some cautionary steps taken by the new CM. PM Narendra Modi was also right in advising to not put unnecessary pressure on the police department. Though it is early days, Yogi, as the CM is fondly addressed surely means business and the saffron garb need not lead his critics astray. ALSO READ:  Is space for dissent shrinking? Some impending issues like reaching an amicable solution to the building of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya is yet to see light. Other issues which can inflame passions across the broad spectrum of the social fabric are yet to be resolved. No one expects these will be resolved overnight but if the CM means business, he should call for a round table and discuss it with all the stakeholders and arrive at a common ground. The hostilities of the post-1992 scenario should not be repeated and with such a huge mandate, the ruling party is well-positioned to be accommodative as well as tough when it comes to law and order, though, shedding the hardliner image will take a little more time. That said, there are other day-to-day issues faced by the common man in the state. Erratic or no power supply remains a key concern; in fact, even major towns across the state have very little power supply. Clean drinking water is a distant dream for millions and good roads exist only in the big cities.  Corruption is a carry-forward of successive regimes through the decades. Cleansing the system is top priority. The CM would do well to sit down and get on with the job of addressing these infrastructure issues with the seriousness they deserve.  He has to take some pragmatic steps in regard to citizens charter, law and order, safety of women and to end the breeding corruption rampantly running in the state. The CM should, however, remember that he represents the entire populace and not just the people of one particular community or religion. It would be a useful reminder always that people cutting across religious divides have reposed their full faith in him and the ball is in his court now to deliver. Whatever decisions he takes should take into account the sentiments of all the stakeholders. It is within this broad framework that he needs to operate.  With a co-operative central government, this should not prove to be difficult. Parties which lost the elections badly should remember that they cannot rule a state like their personal fiefdoms and expect to win elections. But that’s not the end of the road for them. They should act as a fierce Opposition to remind the Yogi government to justify the mandate they have received.  As the famous quote from Abraham Lincoln says: You can fool all the people some of the time, some of the people all the time but you cannot fool all the people all the time. Feudal habits die hard but the sooner the major parties in the state like the Congress, the Samajwadi Party and to some extent, the BSP, shed their ‘dynastic’ images, the better for the country’s political future in a country where the electorate is getting more and more intelligent thanks to the new media. Finally, good governance is what matter and this government like all future governments will be judged on metrics like performance and efficiency. In that sense, the verdict in this round of elections marks a watershed in Indian politics. Let us hope the Yogi, who has an image of workaholic, walks the talk and hopefully all the political parties learn their lessons to make Indian democracy vibrant. The writer works as a Senior Producer (Digital) with ABP News. He can be reached at dheerajc@abpnews.in Disclaimer: The opinions, beliefs and views expressed by the various authors and forum participants on this website are personal and do not reflect the opinions, beliefs and views of ABP News Network Pvt Ltd.