It is no secret that SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and BSP supremo Mayawati are poles apart politically and ideologically, but recent developments vis-a-vis mafia-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari’s QED have brought out their contrasting personal image also among UP voters.
If Akhilesh took up cudgels with his family seniors to stop the entry of Ansari in Samajwadi Party to ward off charges of patronising criminals, Mayawati had no qualms in allowing merger of Quami Ekta Dal (QED) in her party for a bigger electoral gains.
Interestingly, Akhilesh, said to be heading a party criticised for sheilding outlaws, had set the trend of shrugging off such an image on the eve of 2012 polls by putting his foot down and foiling the move to usher in another don D P Yadav into the party fold.
The move had enhanced his image as “uncompromising” on criminalisation of politics and cleansing his party of elements with unsavoury brush with the law.
The decision had proved fruitful in 2012 with his party getting clear victory and perhaps it guided his latest move in checking Ansari’s entry into his party.
Mayawati who, on the other hand, has the image of running the state with an iron hand, has not batted an eyelid in allowing merger of QED with BSP.
She went a step ahead by giving three tickets to Ansari’s family without caring for what her politically adversaries will be saying.
Mayawati had earned the image of a “strict administrator” by acting tough against officials and her own partymen but her sole concern this time has been mastering caste equations to win elections.
Despite criminal antecedents, Ansari’s family is held in high esteem in some eastern UP districts and has considerable sway over some dozen odd assembly seats in Mau, Azamgarh, Varanasi and Ghazipur districts that have a sizeable Muslim population.
And this is what Mayawati it looking for, especially when SP and Congress have come together. (MORE)
(This article has not been edited by DNA’s editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
Source: dnaindia.com