The next UP Assembly elections, scheduled to be held in 2012, are all set to witness a bitter power struggle between three women.
While UP chief minister Mayawati will lead her Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in the next elections and make a bid for a return to power, Ms Rita Bahuguna Joshi will lead the Congress and Ms Uma Bharti is all set a pivotal role in leading the BJP in UP.
All three women are known for their aggressive postures in politics and have crossed swords on occasions more than one.
UP Congress president Rita Bahuguna Joshi is, perhaps, one of the biggest critics of Ms Mayawati and has even paid the price for it. Her statements against the BSP leader not only led to the torching of her house in Lucknow in July 2009 but also gave her a stint in jail last year. Compared to other state Congress leaders who are seen to be “soft” towards Ms Mayawati, Ms Joshi is the only party leaders who can take on the BSP on her own. It is precisely for this reason that Joshi has been given a second term as UP Congress chief and the party now expects her to help the Congress in retrieving its lost vote banks among Brahmins, Muslims and dalits.
If sources are to be believed, Ms Joshi will be mounting a blistering attack on Ms Mayawati as soon as elections are announced in the state.
On the other hand, the BJP is busy drafting Ms Bharti to play a key role in reviving the BJP in UP.
Ms Bharti, known as a vociferous Hindu leader, has the capacity to win over dalits and OBCs who are Hindus in the first place.
“With her oratory skills, she can dilute the caste base and bring all caste groups on the Hindu platform and this is what is needed to chart out the party’s revival in UP. Besides, pitting Uma Bharti against Mayawati will give the latter a taste of her own medicine,” says a senior BJP leader.
With Ms Bharti leading from the front, the BJP plans to mount a two-pronged attack on Ms Mayawati and the Congress on issues related to lack of development, corruption and Muslim appeasement.
For both, the Congress and the BJP, the 2012 Assembly elections in UP will be a do-or-die affair. Both the parties, despite their national status, have been witnessing a downslide in Uttar Pradesh — the state that once was their bastion and gave their stability in national politics.
Both the parties are now desperate to regain lost glory in UP and for this, they are now gearing up to pit women against women — with or without reservation.