BSP President Mayawati took on both Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as the Congress on Friday as she campaigned in the Lok Sabha elections for the BSP candidates in Delhi.

Accusing Modi of failing to work for the weaker sections, she told an election rally in Dilshad Garden area: “Chowkidari won’t save the ‘chowkidar’.” The former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister added: “This time Modi must be told that after the failed policies of his government, his ‘Chowkidar’ tactic will fall flat after the results are announced on May 23.” The BSP has named Rajvir Singh from North East Delhi, Sanjay Gehlot from East Delhi, Sita Sharan from West Delhi, Shahid Ali from Chandhni Chowk and Siddhant Gautam from South Delhi.

Mayawati alleged that like the previous governments at the Centre, the Modi government had also disappointed the SC and ST communities and other weaker sections.

The present government has failed to meet even a fourth of the promises made by Modi, she said.

Mayawati also blamed the Congress for the problems of the Dalits and minorities.

“After independence, they were in power at the Centre and in most states but still the grand old party failed to provide proper legal rights to the SC/ST communities.” She accused India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru of ignoring BR Ambedkar’s advice to take strict action so the SC and ST communities can get their legal due.

She also criticised the Congress’ promised Nyay scheme and said that if her party leads the government at the Centre, she will ensure that people from weaker sections get permanent jobs and not just Rs6,000 a month.

Mayawati claimed that the Congress was in a bad shape in Uttar Pradesh but the BJP was in a far worse condition. She alleged that the state government had used the government machinery to stop the BSP-SP alliance from winning.

Separately, a belated effort has started in opposition ranks to rally together forces for a united stand against the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA.

Buoyed by their own field reports that the Modi wave could be flagging and the NDA could be short of the majority mark post May 23, opposition unity efforts appear to have got second wind. One of the principal movers in these efforts is Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader N. Chandrababu Naidu, whose own fate will be decided shortly — state assembly elections were held along with the Lok Sabha polls in the state. Naidu was among opposition leaders who approached the Election Commission and the Supreme Court on the issue of VVPATs. He has campaigned for the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal besides being in touch with other opposition leaders like Mayawati of the Bahujan Samaj Party.

K. Chandrashekar Rao of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) had initially started out by trying to cobble together a non-BJP, non-Congress alliance. But, there could be a shift in this. While he has met Kerala Chief Minister and CPI(M) stalwart Pinarayi Vijayan — who later described the meeting as significant — he is also believed to have connected with the Congress leadership.

Meanwhile, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who is being wooed by the BJP, appears to be keeping his options open for the moment. For the record, Naidu has been in touch with him too, suggesting that in the event of a hung Parliament, he could play kingmaker.

It is difficult to say whether the Congress party led by Rahul Gandhi, the principal opposition to the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will be the glue in these unity efforts. Rahul Gandhi is focusing on building his party to a position that it can stand on its own without the help of allies.

The face-off on the ground appears to be between a combination of strident nationalism, Hindu pride and a stand against dynasty politics on the one side versus issues of unemployment, farm distress and economic growth on the other. Anecdotal evidence suggests that even though Modi remains the reference point in this election, and is widely regarded as a strong leader who tried to clean up the economy, his focus on muscular nationalism and speeches bordering on communal polarisation are no longer getting top traction.

It is possible that a seven-phase election, rather than tiring out and unraveling those in the anti-BJP camp has also affected the ruling party.

Indo-Asian News Service