Tight contest may be the reason behind no-hold-barred attacks

Lucknow: The assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh has witnessed more twists and turns this year than the previous ones , may be because the stakes are high for the major political players, the SP-Congress alliance, the BSP and the BJP.

Electioneering began in the state on a good note. Every major party leader was mainly talking of development. State chief minister Akhilesh Yadav highlighted the measures he had taken to improve the socio-economic condition of the state. Chief of the Bahujan Samaj Party, Mayawati, recalled the developmental schemes she had launched during her rule ten years ago.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi made special mention of the note-ban, surgical strike, digitalisation of the country, Goods and Services Tax and some other new schemes aimed at improving the socio-economic conditions in the country.

The theme, tone and tenor and everything else which goes with campaigning changed as soon as the first two phases of seven-phase elections were held. As the election entered the third phase, attacks became personal and all niceties were thrown to the wind.

To the credit of others, it must be mentioned here that it was Modi who had pelted the first stone. It was he who had personally attacked his rivals first .

In an attempt to pull them up, he gave a new definition to the word scam . He said it is not a complete word but an abbreviated form of a word.

The first letter of this acronym (SCAM) stands for Samajwadi Party, the second letter for the Congress, the third for Akhilesh and the last for Mayawati. What he sought to convey was that all these are scamsters.

Expectedly, reaction of these leaders was prompt and equally venomous. New SP president Akhilesh came out with a new expansion of this word. For him, S stood for save, C for country ,A for Amit Shah and M for Modi. He sought to emphasise that the country would be much better place to live if these two leaders are out or become irrelevant.

What followed was a no-hold-barred attacks by all these leaders. In the abbreviation war who has gained most so far is difficult to say but one thing is clear that it will end only with the end of the electioneering.

At present there is no truce. Only two days ago, Modi fired a new salvo by announcing that the letter B in BSP stands for Bahenji and S and P for Sampatti and Party, respectively. A day later, Mayawati retaliated with equally hard-hitting explanation of the short form for the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP).

In this light it appears that the state is in for more such shocking remarks till the first week of next month when campaigning will end. All this is in a bad taste and unpalatable. but who cares. The political level at all places has gone so low that comparison of top political leaders are being made to animals.

Election veterans, however, are not much worried. For them, all this is amusing. This happens, they reassure, when the contest is tough. as it is in the state this year.

Also Read: Don’t trust her, Mayawati can again ally with the BJP, warned Akhilesh