By Sushil Kutty
The worst that is being spoken of about newly minted Samajwadi politician Swami Prasad Maurya is not that he is defector or turncoat, but that he is somebody who is more worried about his family heirlooms, concerned they may not get due recognition as the years roll by. At the same time, congrats is due to Swami Prasad Maurya for finally zeroing in on the right political party, one which values dynasty and family rule.
And while at that, Maurya is also being wracked with questions: Why did you stay on in the BJP right up to the end, Swami Prasad? Why did you stick on in the Yogi party and the Yogi Government when you were so concerned about the sorry deal being meted out to the ‘soschit, picchada and vanchit’ under BJP rule?
Yes, it is not roses all the way for Swami Prasad Maurya now that he has quit the BJP. Till a week before he announced his intention to dump the BJP, Swami Prasad Maurya was all praise for the Modi Government for all the good things it had done for the OBC and Dalit.
Now, he’s having a hard time explaining why he did that? Maybe, there is substance in the allegation that he dumped the BJP only after he got wind of not getting a “BJP ticket” this time. The BJP has apparently done “recce” of all its MLAs and Swami Prasad Maurya hadn’t done much for his assembly constituency.
The fact of the matter is, Swami Prasad Maurya is the worst kind of politician any Indian voter is faced with. It is, therefore, even more of a wonder why Swami Prasad Maurya keeps getting elected—again and again? What is in “this” Maurya? According to a Bahujan Samaj Party spokesperson, Swami Prasad Maurya was “only a Gram Pradhan” when he was picked up by Mayawati and given a BSP ticket 20 years ago.
Then, when he became an MLA for the first time, Mayawati made him a minister in her cabinet! She liked him so much, she made him minister again in her second stint as Chief Minister. This time even though Swami Prasad Maurya had lost the election. To this day, nobody knows what Mayawati saw in Swami Prasad Maurya.
He did not have charisma written all over his face and persona. Swami Prasad was like any average politician—ordinary, overweight and the master of a grating voice that can scare the most raucous infant to silence. The suppressed and oppressed have been the mainstay of Swami Prasad Maurya’s continuous presence in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly?
He and umpteen other politicians like him on both sides of the aisle have made a career out of the “soschit, vanchit and pichada,” which takes us to the question “why” do people vote for such leaders? It’s not charisma, at least not in the case of Swami Prasad Maurya, who is a braggart and completely sure of his clout and control over the electorate in his assembly constituency.
Two, he is no ‘bahubali’ or ‘dabang’, like Mukhtar Ansari or Ateeq Ahmed. Maybe he throws cash around like confetti. Could he be like Ajay Mishra ‘Teni’—unknown tough guy to the outside world, but pretty scary to the electorate in his constituency?
There is all sort of talk spinning around Swami Prasad Maurya—he is an ingrate, and an opportunist. The manner in which he betrayed Mayawati after he had milked the BSP and Uttar Pradesh to the fullest extent spoke of his utter lack of decency and accountability. The bottom-line is there is no honour in Swami Prasad Maurya. His modus operandi is the same whether it was the BSP or the BJP.
Branding Swami Prasad Maurya “shameless” isn’t difficult. India is a cauldron of castes and politicians like Swami Prasad Maurya are worse than communal. They perpetuate the pernicious and demeaning caste system even as they invoke BR Ambedkar to make pompous statements while raking in the benefits of the caste-ridden politics. Five years ago, the BJP welcomed him with open arms and now, it is the turn of the Samajwadi Party. The Swami Prasad Mauryas of this world fit into every political party. (IPA Service)
Sri Lankan Food Crisis Has A Clear Message For India 