'I will accomplish the task of six years in six months'

Mayawati created history in May 1995 when she became the first-ever dalit woman to head any state government in India. Now, nearly two years later, the firebrand Bahujan Samaj Party leader is back in the saddle in Uttar Pradesh.

On both occasions, Mayawati and her mentor BSP chief Kanshi Ram struck a deal with the Bharatiya Janata Party, essentially an upper caste outfit. It holds far fewer seats (67) than the BJP (176) in the 425-member UP assembly, but it managed to wrest an equal share in the coalition, even getting first crack at chief-ministership.

The BSP’s general secretary now is impressing upon everybody that her party is not for dalits alone, but stands by all the poor and downtrodden; it also does not believe in discrimination on the basis of caste and creed, she says. This may be an attempt to explain the BSP's honeymoon with the BJP.

In an exclusive interview with Sharat Pradhan in Lucknow, Mayawati explains why her party opted for this alliance with the BJP, and how she hopes to take on all political combines in future. Excerpts:

What prompted you and your party to go back to the BJP?

It was UP's deteriorating law and order situation that brought us together again. You see, things had gone so bad that there was total absence of the rule of law… Naturally, the worst affected were the poor and downtrodden, whose grievances remained unheard due to the absence of a popular government…

Didn’t Kanshi Ram insist he would accept BJP’s support only from outside when BJP leader Brahm Dutt Dwivedi suggested it?

That time we did not have a very clear mind on it. But now we have agreed for a coalition because we realise that atrocities were being committed not only on BJP members but on dalits too… We felt our insistence on support from outside might lead to greater problems for both parties.

Wasn't it the increasing influence of Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav in government decisions that prompted you and the BJP to strike the deal?

There is no denying that President's rule under Governor Romesh Bhandari amounted to proxy rule by Mulayam Singh Yadav… Every other party, including the Congress, talked about it.

But don't you agree that your alliance with the BJP is unnatural, more in the nature of a marriage of convenience. The BJP is essentially as an upper caste party, while your party’s ideology is devoted totally to the dalits?

It is wrong to believe that our party talks only of dalits. Our 67 MLAs here include members from all communities – the upper castes, OBCs and minorities. We believe in Sarva Samaj (entire society). Yet, I would like to point out why we lay greater emphasis on the plight of dalits. After all, they are the most downtrodden and therefore deserve more attention and sympathy… Even the central government lays greater stress on them… It is very natural. Take the case of a family. If there are four children and one of them is weak, it is very natural for everyone to take greater care of the weak one.

How long will your alliance with the BJP last? The common feeling is that it will be as short-lived as the last time.

It is going on, and I am sure it will continue smoothly.

Going by past experience, how can you say this so affirmatively?

You see when there is a big family, tensions are bound to crop up once a while There may be differences of opinion, but such tensions ease away after some time… and the family lives together happily again.

Mulayam Singh has been describing your alliance with the BJP as 'opportunistic' and predicted that Kalyan Singh won’t get a chance to be a chief minister six months later as agreed.

Tell him to worry about himself. Today, he is beaten in Uttar Pradesh. And the day is not far when Mulayam Singh Yadav will be marginalised at the Centre also.

Do you mean to say your alliance has given Mulayam Singh some kind of jolt?

It is a jolt not only to Mulayam but to the entire United Front and all other parties as well.

Your party has never remained steady with anyone. You aligned with Mulayam Singh’s Samajwadi Party in 1994, then ditched him to join hands with then BJP. During the last assembly election you teamed up with the Congress and now you are back with the BJP.

Considering we had an alliance with the Congress, it was their duty to stand by their promise of making me chief minister. If the United Front did not permit it when it came to power at the Centre, the Congress should have withdrawn support to it. But the Congress developed cold feet and Mulayam Singh Yadav kept the pressure on the UF, refusing to abdicate his own claim to the chief ministership even though he was the country's defence minister. Imagine, even Prime Minister Deve Gowda had to express his helplessness in convincing Mulayam. Both the Congress and the United Front displayed their double standards.

Do you mean to say that you consider the BJP more reliable than the Congress and UF?

Absolutely. The Congress failed to honour its commitment and the United Front's claims about being the messiah of the poor and downtrodden stand belied. But the BJP kept its word.

So you do not regard the BJP as a political untouchable?

We have always fought against untouchability. And in any case Manyavar Kanshi Ramji has already said that the United Front is 'feudal' and, therefore, it is more dangerous than anybody else.

What are your government's priorities and how will you ensure their implementation?

Restoration of law and order in the state is on top of my priority list, followed by development, which has also suffered due to the absence of a popular government. Besides, I wish to make the administration more responsive to the needs of the people, Thus, I have already issued directives to all district magistrates and district police superintendents to hold Janta Durbars for direct redressal of the grievances. They will have to compulsorily remain available to the public in their offices for at least an hour between 11 am and 12 noon on all working days. The same practice will have to be followed by sub-divisional magistrates and deputy police superintendents at the sub-division (tehsil) level.

I will myself undertake surprise inspections to ensure this system is being followed… I know this can work wonders and that thousands of people can be saved from undertaking long journeys to Lucknow for jobs which could be got right at their doorstep.

Isn't there a lot of difference between your working in the previous dispensation and now?

I was then new to everything and I had to learn a lot… It took me some time to get the hang of things… I am already well trained now. I can assure you this time I will accomplish the task of six years in six months.

Do you hope to build a new administrative environment by merely going back on a transfer spree?

I do not believe in transferring or shifting people just for the heck of it. I am not a stupid girl. I have shifted officers only where it was absolutely necessary.

Your necessity depends largely on caste, doesn't it?

Certainly not. Caste has not been the consideration in the transfers ordered by me. I am shifting people solely on merit. It is the integrity, honesty and performance of the officer that will determine his posting.

How will you judge the performance of officers?

Just as I did last time. I first gave the officers one-and-a-half months to work and asked them to submit progress reports. Then I carried out a review of each department. If they failed to measure up to expectations, action was taken against them.

This time, I will first convene a meeting of IAS and IPS officers, appraise them of our government's policies and programmes and then gave them a month’s time…Those with a satisfactory performance will be rewarded; (others) will be dealt with in the severest of terms.

You have been talking about dealing firmly with the rampant corruption in the state. So what do you propose to do with the three most corrupt IAS officers identified by the UP IAS Association?

The IAS Association had submitted whatever they had to say in that connection to the governor. Let them come to me… Then I will take necessary action.