MOYO versus YOYOs in upcoming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh
MOYO is Modi and Yogi’s double engine government and we use the YOYO toy symbolically for other political parties.
The YOYO consists of an axle connected to two disks, and a string looped around its axle. When the string unwinds, the YOYO is pulled down with gravity. As the YOYO goes down, its potential energy (PE) due to its height converts in the kinetic energy due to motion. Thus, the YOYO has the ability to move up and down unless an external force impedes its motion. Let us move away from YOYOs simple physics to the politics of MOYO versus YOYO in the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, equally critical for the 2024 Parliamentary elections.
In the current political game, MOYO’s double engine government enjoyed an absolute majority with BJP winning 312 seats in 2017. Thus, MOYO has been in the driving seat with separate YOYOs of the SP (47), BSP (19), Congress (7), and all others (18) occupying a total of 91 seats. The Congress party had an alliance with SP yet it won only 7 seats. In my view, Congress as a political party is waning although Priyanka Gandhi is trying to gather some steam.
MOYO mantra, “Sabka Saath-Sabka Vikas-Sabka Vishwas” (everyone’s support, everyone’s development, and everyone’s trust) has taken U.P. by storm against the YOYOs. In other words, MOYO has allowed other party YOYO strings to go down only to a certain height and acquire limited PE in proportion to their Assembly seats. Thus, the SP, BSP, and Congress YOYOs are forced in the state of rest at a given height with the highest PE for SP, next for BSP, and the lowest for Congress. In this game, the YOYO’s ability to bounce depends on their PE (imposed by MOYO’s double engine) and consequently their political gamesmanship. We exclude other parties to keep the game simpler.
Anticipating elections, MOYO commanders with maximum PE have been in full swing for the battleground with many BJP heavyweights visiting U.P. They crisscrossed the State beating their “development drum” as loudly as possible. Modi himself made about a dozen visits and held public rallies until the Election Commission temporarily halted it due to raging Coronavirus.
The opposition YOYOs also bounced back for electioneering to the best of their ability but had little to offer except blaming MOYO. Their innuendos, lies, and misinformation are ineffective in countering the visible developments, better law and order, and public health and care during the pandemic, just to name a few. Surprisingly, the SP and Congress YOYOs seem to be bouncing and making media noise more than the BSP (even with greater PE than Congress).
Many visible MOYO projects are difficult to be masked by opposition YOYOs, such as an unimaginable rejuvenation of the Kashi Vishwanath corridor, the construction of the magnificent Ram Temple in Ayodhya, an international airport at Jewar, and the completion/ initiation of many highways crisscrossing east-west and north-south in U.P. In fairness to the opposition YOYOs, they perhaps conceived several projects to deserve partial credit but the completion with greater speed and integrity by MOYO win them the end game.
Reportedly, Akhilesh Yadav had Lord Krishna in his dream asking to establish Ram Raj in U.P. which is already accomplished by MOYO. In fact, MOYO, if returned to power, is already planning, not just dreaming, for Mathura-Vrindavan corridor, the birthplace of Krishna, to its ancient glory and magnificence as is Ayodhya, the birthplace of Ram.
Today, who can deny the law and order in U.P. being so much better and people feeling safer. The YOYOs may characterize it as harsh and criticize but MOYO has enabled the legal environment for holding the guilty accountable for damaging/ destroying public property even if it required selling/ auctioning personal assets of the culprit. MOYO also prosecuted people who unlawfully acquired government or other properties with political or Goonda might. One such example is Azam Khan who had amassed significant properties during the SP government. In essence, the Goonda Raj of yesterday is replaced by Ram Raj by MOYO.
Having visited my village in the Saharanpur district, I have observed relative harmony in religion-based (Dharma-wad) conflicts and caste-based (Jati-wad) discriminations, improved accountability in education, and zero tolerance in the use of unfair means in the Board examinations. I also noticed improvements in meeting the needs of the government schools although I had expected more in the spirit of the MOYO mantra of Saath, Vikas, and Vishwas.
One of my concerns is the continued lack of political will by both MOYO and YOYOs to move away from the caste-based vote bank. Rather, it is taking deeper roots and perpetuating during all elections. It is troubling that elected legislators and aspiring politicians switch allegiance from one party to another which appears caste-related. I am appalled about their character devoid of moral values, ethical conduct, and political ideology. How can a legislator with MOYO since 2017 switch over to YOYOs or vice versa? Even more appalling is that all parties promote, encourage, and condone such horse-trading practices.
I don’t know the pulse of the electorate nor do I have a lens to see and forecast the future. My hope and dream, however, include an indivisible Uttar Pradesh with a strong-willed government that will promote, accelerate, and/ or strengthen policies toward:
- Better education and employment opportunities.
- Zero-tolerance for criminal/ unlawful activities.
- Reduction in religion-based disparities.
- Bringing down social barriers.
- Corruption-free and safe environment.
From my perspective, today’s Uttar Pradesh has made incremental progress toward Ram Raj and transformational development. We must continue that path for a better tomorrow. It is my conviction that today’s voter, in rural areas, may be less well educated but is very capable, informed, and wise to pick the “best” players in MOYO versus YOYOs game. Let the good fight, political game, and democratic process continue and the polls happen peacefully and lawfully. In the end, we hope to have Uttar Pradesh governed with integrity, dignity, passion, and professionalism for the greater good of its citizens.
Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.
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Formerly, a researcher in Italy, Japan, and France, he has widely travelled and came to the US in 1978. He was a faculty and academic administrator in several different universities in PA, TX, NJ, MN, WI, and NY, and an Executive Fellow in the White House S&T Policy during the Clinton administration.
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