POLITICIAN'S BANK

For all those who felt proud to belong to a region that boasted both of Taj Mahal and Sangam, it must have been heartbreaking ,when in Lucknow, the resolution to divide the state into four parts was passed.

The main facets that have bubbled out of this division storm are the emotional outbursts of a simple UPite, who, irrespective of the dilapidated condition of the state ,has fond memories of the state’s cultural supremacy. But in the midst of all this emotion, we regularly ignore the real politik of the leaders of the state ,the beloved Vote Bank policy-an antecedent to divide and rule.

“A vote bank is a loyal bloc of a single community backing a certain candidate” is a rather innocent definition of the term. In the context of UP, it is a strategy of getting votes on the caste lines ,that ultimately lead to the negligence of the development of the region.

The main attraction of the politics of Uttar Pradesh is its casteist flavor. The reason behind the subsequent division is termed as the large size of the state that leads to its inefficient administration. This reason , as per now, is just a mirage to seek political goals. Three out of four regions which are projected as different states are self sufficient as far as the resources and manpower is concerned. The problem is the lack of effective policies of governance, as political spectrum makes it mandatory for every politician to woo a certain caste/group, ultimately overshadowing the state as a whole.

If we look at the state more closely, we will find cotton mills at Kanpur ,once known for their huge output- all closed, the artistic cottage industry of Purvanchal- all dumped up. These are some of the many ‘already’ present resources that made UP, a once prosperous state and an ignorant back towards them has resulted in the present plight of the state. And no prizes for guessing the simple reason – lack of sustainable policies ,because the idea is to stay in power rather than to strive for the development of key zones which have both man power and resources.

The largely unseen result of excessive vote banking is the continuing malice between various caste groups. The malice has always been there, but when the baton of leadership is carried forward by educated leaders, and when the the common man, too is decently aware, then, the persistence of such attitude is an alarming sign. It can be gathered from history that any pogrom is a result of a hybrid mixture of class hatred with education among the youth. The ill-effect growing vote bank policies , which will aggravate with the division, might very well bring the relation among the people esp. educates youth of the region to such a situation.

To conclude, I guess, it would be sensible to relate the state’s development with an effective administration rather than division, which may lead to a lesser say of the regions at the center. Sound policy making and impartial judgment of the issue can only make Uttar Pradesh an Uttam Pradesh, the title it has long been striving to get.