The clear majority for Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party and the defeat of Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party in the Uttar Pradesh election show that social re-engineering cannot last long unless the government satisfies the minimum needs of people. Ms Mayawati's defeat is a great setback to the Dalit movement.
All credit goes to Mr. Mulayam Singh for bringing his party back to power. The Rahul Gandhi factor seems to have gone almost unnoticed. The result in U.P. and the other States shows that the Congress is no longer a party to be reckoned with.
K.M. Lakshmana Rao,
Visakhapatnam
Despite the Congress' promise of a sub-quota for Muslims and the BJP's promise of a “spiritual Disneyland in Mathura and Vrindavan,” the two national parties failed to make any significant impact on the voters of U.P. Neither did Anna Hazare and the BJP's crusade against the Congress government at the Centre make a difference. The electoral setback is a lesson for both the Congress and the BJP which made lofty promises to woo the voters, who finally embraced the SP and bid adieu to Ms Mayawati.
Janga Bahadur Sunuwar
Jalpaiguri
Getting publicity for the so-called welfare schemes seemed to be the BSP's one and only focus while it was in power. Mr. Mulayam Singh alone has benefited from the anti-incumbency factor. The people of U.P. have voted for change. The SP should respect the mature verdict and strive to provide corruption-free governance.
K. Venkatesan,
Tiruchi
It is evident that caste-based politics is beginning to wane and people have started voting for development. The U.P. electorate has shown that it wants parties to fulfil their electoral promises. The election is also a lesson for the Congress, which would do well to understand that it can no longer bank on the failures of other parties to win.
Ritvik Chaturvedi,
New Delhi
Mr. Mulayam Singh's impressive victory and the BSP's final tally, marginalising the Congress and the BJP in U.P., point to the emergence of regionalism of both organisations and personalities. It should be the endeavour of the Congress to develop local leadership in all the States. Parkash Singh Badal deserves praise for bringing back his government to power in Punjab.
C.P. Velayudhan Nair,
Thiruvananthapuram
The charisma of Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra in U.P. did not work, after all. People want an effective and active government in the State and at the Centre. It is a pity that the Congress has secured the fourth place in the contest. The U.P. election verdict is sure to resonate in the 2014 Lok Sabha election.
G. Sathiyanarayanan,
Chennai
The U.P. election was essentially a contest between two caste-based parties. There was hardly any space for Rahul Gandhi who campaigned for “caste-free” elections. It will take a long time for the Congress to perform well in U.P. Its efforts should be continuous, and should not start just days before the polling.
Pankaj Yelapale,
Pune
Ms Mayawati wasted the scarce resources of her State on constructing and putting up statues of herself and her party symbol, elephant. She could have spent the money instead on empowering the weaker sections, including Dalits, by, say, putting up polytechnics and ITIs. If the past is any indication, the SP government will also engage in populist measures. A very unhealthy culture has taken root in politics.
Kuran Chandra Ghosh,
Delhi
The elephant has been run over by the bicycle in Uttar Pradesh. A clear majority for the SP in Uttar Pradesh is the worst that could have happened to the Congress. Mr. Mulayam Singh's newfound independence will push the Congress to the brink at the Centre, encouraging its other allies to dictate terms to it. The results of the U.P. election will undoubtedly have a huge impact on the Congress' politics.
P. Arihanth,
Secunderabad
