UP chief minister Mayawati firmly believes that a letter a day will keep the Congress at bay in Uttar Pradesh. Since the past week, the chief minister has been writing letters in quick succession to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh without expecting or waiting for a reply.
She first sent letters to the Prime Minister last week, seeking reservation for Muslims, poor among the upper castes and inclusion of Jats in the central OBC list. Within three days, she sent another reminder to the PMO on the same subject.
This week, Ms Mayawati has sent letters to the Prime Minister regarding poor condition of national highways in UP and the acute shortage of fertiliser in the state. She has blamed the UPA government for both the issues.
Through these letters, Ms Mayawati wants to send out a clear message that it is the Congress-led UPA government that is responsible for the problems plaguing the state.
She has also made an attempt to attract the attention of those vote banks that were getting drawn towards the Congress in UP.
The chief minister hopes to win back Muslim support by pleading their case for reservation. She wants to consolidate BSP’s base among upper castes by taking up their case for reservation for the economically weak sections and then chip away at the Jat base of the Rashtriya Lok Dal — a potential Congress ally — in western UP by advocating the inclusion of Jats in the central OBC list.
According to sources in the BSP, the chief minister now plans to use these letters to berate the Congress in her election campaign and blame the UPA for all that is not right in UP.
“The Congress has been trying to woo Muslims and upper castes in UP and the chief minister’s letters will expose the real intentions of the Congress. Similarly, the RLD claims to be pro-Jats but has made no efforts for their inclusion in the central OBC list. The BSP has scored a point on these issues with the letters to the PM,” said a senior BSP minister.
Ms Mayawati has also tried to nullify the efforts of Mr Rahul Gandhi in taking up farmers’ issue by writing to the centre on shortage of fertilisers — an issue directly concerning the farmers.