NEW DELHI, 1 October 2003 — Politicians in India are known for changing colors, the latest instance being that of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav whose overtures to the hard-line Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party has made Muslims, who constitute about 18 percent of the population in the state, uneasy.
Yadav has spent his first days in office trying not to ruffle the feathers of the BJP, appeasing Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) deserters with promises of high office and defending legislators Amarmani Tripathi and Raja Bhaiyya, who face charges of murder.
The relief amongst the minorities in the state after the fall of the BSP-BJP government is fast waning as reports of the chief minister’s close relations with the BJP find considerable space in the local newspapers and UP’s very active grapevine.
He is expected to expand his Cabinet to accommodate at least 20 odd BSP legislators who were amongst those who allowed him to prove his majority. He has decided, at what insiders claim was part of the “deal” with the BJP, to retain Speaker Kesar Nath Tripathi against opposition from within his own party.
Kalyan Singh was earlier tipped for the post. Being a former chief minister he cannot work as a minister as this will rob him of his seniority by placing him under Mulayam Singh. The chief minister, who had no hesitation in splitting the BSP, has stayed his hand where the BJP is concerned. This sparked off speculation that he agreed not to touch the BJP in return for being given the opportunity to prove his majority by the governor.
His supporters admit that this appears to have been the agreement between the BJP and the Samajwadi Party chief, with one senior leader claiming that the BJP legislators were ready to defect and join the new government.
The Congress has remained worried about a possible split in its ranks, as it was the worst hit when Mulayam Singh was in power nine years ago.
The Samajwadi leader has also raised political eyebrows through his repeated assertions that he would have no real differences with the BJP if it put aside its Ayodhya agenda, the demand for the abrogation of Article 370 and its insistence on a uniform civil code.
