Even as all political parties across the spectrum are getting polarised on the anti-corruption crusade, the Bahujan Samaj Party in Uttar Pradesh has adopted a very cautious approach on the issue.
The BSP, for obvious reasons, is maintaining a safe distance from Anna Hazare who has taken the nation by storm. The party and its leadership have not gone beyond issuing a customary press note saying that it supported the campaign to root out corruption. The press statement on Wednesday said that the BSP had always fought against corruption and listed the instances in which Ms Mayawati had taken action against those found guilty of corruption.
UP chief minister and BSP president Mayawati, for once, is not using the prevailing situation to attack the Congress — a pastime she had indulged in happily during the past four years. The press statement merely stated that the arrest of Anna Hazare was against the principles of democracy. The chief minister is apparently wary of forcefully supporting the crusade against corruption — like the BJP — because more than a dozen ministers in her own government are facing serious corruption charges. The NRHM and MNREGA scams in UP have already caught enough headlines and cases against the chief minister on disproportionate assets are a major embarrassment. Supporting the Anna movement vocally could obviously boomerang on the state government.
Ms Mayawati, so far, has maintained a seemingly cautious stand on the campaigns.