Mayawati to be sworn in as CM on Sunday-India-The Times of India

BSP's victory in U.P Assembly elections is a good sign for Indian democracy. Behan Mayawati (BMW) is ready to become UP's Chief Minister. I hail from UP so I am going through mixed feelings after watching UP election results. The credit for BSP's victory goes to Mayawati's simple campaign style. Her campaign was well organized. She delegated responsibilities to other leaders in her party. In a country where most of the political parties are run like family business, it was noticeable but pleasant change for democracy lovers. She focused on people from different castes and religions. Congress was busy in appeasing Muslims during the campaign. But Muslims in the state realized that Congress was not going to do anything for them. COngress has used them as a pawn for political games and leverage. Mayawati was not interested in talking about reservation instead she was seriously focusing on law and order and development. Indian politicians should learn a lesson from UP elections. I have been writing about this since long time but I must remind Indian politicians that the future Indian elections will be about policies not religion or castes.

I am very disappointed with BJP's performance. Even more disappointed I am by media speculations that UP elections would weaken, the BJP President, Mr. Rajnath Singh (http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=86331). I am not happy that the BJP did not take responsibility for its poor campaign strategy and execution. Mr. Rajnath Singh should have called Mayawati to congratulate her on BSP's victory. He should have assured her of full co-operation for UP's development and improvement in law & order situation. It is not too late. I hope that one of the senior BJP leaders in U.P. would congratulate her and support her while she fixes the ills of Mulayam Singh government. I can say for sure that U.P. electortate would have appreicated such a polite gesture from BJP leadership.

I don't believe in personal attacks, but it seems to me that some BJP leaders were campaigning in UP as if they were on vacation. I was in India in February this year. I could easily see BSP making headway because people I spoke to were most concerned about corruption, law & order, and division politics. BJP's campaign speeches did not impress me at all. I was missing Ms. Uma Bharti in the campaign. U.P people were looking for next leader for the state and BJP could not deliever one. Even today, I am not sure who was going to lead BJP if it won the election. I am sure there are many other Uma Bhartis in BJP. Charisma of Atalji is missing from BJP's words and actions.

BJP should have allowed younger leaders to come forward and execute its campaign strategy. BJP leaders should immediately stop creating negative environment for Muslims. I would strongly suggest that BJP should setup a task force to identify ways to integrate all religions in its cadres. We all know that BJP cannot become an extreme non-secular organization because by doing so, it would not be able to contest elections. BJP has some prominent Muslim leaders, like Nazma Heptulla, who are well respected by all. BJP should seriously think about how it can bring people from all walks of life under one tent. Instead of praising Jinnah, BJP needs to talk about Adbdul Hamids, APJ Kalams, and Maulana Azad. If you wonder who Abdul Hamid was, please save yourself embarrassment and read about India's 1965 war with Pakistan. Most of the Muslims who stayed back in India in 1947 were hoping for a better future, but, what have the political parties given to them? Isolation, separate Civil Code, unequal rights for Muslim women and have used them for political gains. I am a part of less than 1% minority in the US. I will never allow such a thing happen to me. Muslim leaders have betrayed them. Politicians have filled their vote banks yet no one cares about the future of country. When was the last time when Mrs. Sonia Gandhi spoke about Muslim women's rights, education and poverty among Muslim population?

If I was working with Mr. L.K.Advani, first thing I would do is setup a cell in BJP for Muslim women under Dr. Nazma Heptulla and come up with ways to improve their education. health and rights. BJP needs to support NGOs, setup think tanks, and go to the people.