ENARADA, New Delhi
By Ajay N Jha
The seizure of a cache of AK 47 assault rifles from the hose of Muzaffarnagar BSP MP, Kadir Rana as well as a vast cache of automatic weapons from three Mosques in the near-by areas is a clear indicator that the Muzaffarnagar riot had been carefully planned to finish the influence of BKU leader Rakesh Tikait, RLD and Congress party from Western UP. Kairana area in Muzaffarnagar district has already been infamous for its ISI link
Kadar Rana was being bought in SP with the help of Azam Khan and the SP of Sangli was a close associate of Azam Khan. While the official death toll is stated to be around 50, eye witness accounts from at least 9 places in Muzaffarnagar, Sangli and Bagpat said that the maximum casulty of the people has been of Jats and most of them have been killed by AK-47 bullets. Some locals also disclosed that there were synchronized efforts to amass huge amount of weapons and then selected pockets of Jats were made the target.The actual death toll could be 300 plus!!
What is more disturbing is that the riot has spread to the villages of Bagpat district and there is fear of mass retaliation by jats in the coming days. The seed of hatred sown by Mulayam Singh may spread to another Muslim pockets in the state and its repercussions would go to Amethi and Rae Bareli as well. According to some local news reporters, the State government had deliberately allowed these Lumpen elements in Muslim community to freely move around to create the mayhem.
Now the fear is that the after effect of this riot is going to continue till 2014 LS polls in some way or the other and there are chances of more communal flare ups in other parts of the State as well. “This is only going to make things easier for BJP which would consolidate its base in Western Up in a big way and deal a deadly blow to both Ajit Singh and Tikait . Mulayam has deliberately facilitated this to BJP,” Said a senior police official.
Now, with the announcement of Narendra Modi as the BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate on 13th September even without LK Advani’s consent would make things worse for Congress because Amit Shah would then start working overtime and the BJP, RSS and Bajrag dal workers would create more troubles in the State by engaging Muslims on even the smallest pretext to ‘ create that kind of polarization’.
Intelligence agencies, on the other hand, fear that the 2014 LS polls would be deadlier than ever because the amassed weapons from Pakistan through their ISI operators in areas like kairana, Azamgarh, Aligarh and other pockets would come into play.
These developments are likely to have huge impact on the caste and poll equations in Uttar pradesh in the coming days. It was very strange that the Congress party leaders did not bother to keep a watch on what was happening for 10 days in an area which was barely 125 kms away from the national capital. It was only after the forceful intervention by Ambika Soni that everyone woke up from the sleep- right from the Prime minister to all Congress leaders from the State as well as Madhusudan Mistry. Till then, no concern was shown by any one.
The impact of Muzaffarnagar is going to be felt in Assembly polls of Rajasthan, Delhi, Madhaya Pradesh and Chhattishgarh because all these States have a sizable Muslim population.
The Congress party is already facing tough situation in these States and there are chances of Congress losing both in Rajasthan and Delhi and the BJP retaining its stronghold both in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattishgarh. That would be a double whammy for the Congress because then Modi would take all the credit for the BJP victory and his outcry on corruption and price rise would find nationwide echo and boost the prospects of BJP in a big way.
Interestingly enough, the voters of these States would not be seeing the failure of the State government but they would be shown many holes in the 10 years of UPA rule at the centre by the BJP media machine and that would start moulding the public opinion in favour of Modi machine. Corruption and price rise is going to be the main plank in 2014 Polls anyway.
The BJP victory in the forthcoming Assembly elections would not only demoralize the Congress in a big way but also catapult the Modi-mania to an unprecedented level and set the stage for him for 2014 Lok sabha polls.
In Uttar Pradesh, the Congress party is still in a state of stupor. It has not been able to start its consolidation exercise and with Mistry as the AICC General Secretary in Charge, no one knows when the process would be complete.
The Gandhis have yet another set of challenge in Amethi, Sultanpur and Rae Bareli after the exit of KL Sharama brigade, thanks to Akhilesh Das episode and plethora of other irritants. The Gandhis would not only have to stop Sanjay Singh from crossing over to BJP, they would also need to create an alternative team of local workers and functionaries’ not only to contain the mischief Kishori Lal Sharma group but also perform better.
At the moment, a few officials of Rajiv Gandhi Foundation have been entrusting with the responsibility of looking after Rae Bareli affairs where Priyanka Gandhi may finally decide to contest. But to keep the new team battle ready in such a short time would be a huge task.
The Congress party would also need to rope in more experts and advisers at various levels to bring in quick and credible feedback from all parts of the State to prepare the election plans and strategies to ensure that the party does not cave in the face of the saffron onslaught. Depending on Madhusudan Mistry team and its methods alone would be fraught with many unforeseen dangers!! (Concluded)
(Posted on September 14, 2013 @ 11.30pm)
(Ajay N Jha is a veteran journalist from both Print and Electronic media. He is the President and CEO of WICS Global Communications. His email id is Ajay N Jha <ajayjha30@gmail.com> )
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