'Yes Minister' show at Maya's function

LUCKNOW: The senior officials were on their toes and so were BSP netas. Navneet Sehgal, secretary to chief minister, was seen issuing directions for mike testing and ensuring that furniture was in order. Additional cabinet secretary Vijay Shankar Pandey was more than willing to offer a helping hand. Chief secretary AK Gupta was busy overseeing the final preparations.Lucknow commissioner Prashant Trivedi kept revising the text of the welcome speech written for the CM, while PWD minister Naseemuddin Siddiqui was heard directing the BSP volunteers, MLAs, MPs and ministers to manage the over 50,000 crowd.
It was hard to figure out whether the foundation laying ceremony of Kanshi Ram Memorial Green Eco Park was a government function or a workers' convention of the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Reason: The entire state administration -- from the chief secretary to a police constable -- was attentive at the venue working in close coordination with BSP leaders and Bahujan Volunteer Force (BVF) to make event a success. The venue -- where the old Lucknow Jail existed -- was levelled and readied within couple of days for the function after the jail was razed to ground. BSP's blue colour was dominant all around -- be it the dais or the massive pandal put up overnight.
Sensing that the official presence had been well too noted, chief minister Mayawati offered a `clarification' at the end of her speech saying the event was an official function of the state government, hence officers were present. "Had it been a party function, BSP would have held it at Rama Bai Sthal," she said, adding that BSP workers had come only after reading newspapers on Thursday morning. "They have come on their own after reading that a foundation laying ceremony was being held for the eco garden in the memory of their beloved leader late Kanshi Ram," Mayawati said, as government officers and BSP leaders standing around her on the dais nodded their heads in unison.
But, many found it hard to accept the `explanation'. "A person would be nothing but a fool if he/she believes that such a huge crowd, most of them illiterate and poor, came on their own from far off places like Ballia and Saharanpur for the event," said Ramesh Singh, who was caught in a traffic jam after the chief minister's cavalcade left the venue. The argument appeared valid as people in the crowd, when asked, shared they had been brought by the BSP leaders of their respective districts. "It's good to see such a huge memorial in the name of Kanshi Ram," said a sadhu who had come from Mau.
Many BSP workers revealed that they had arrived in the city on Wednesday night itself and were staying at places provided to them by their local MLAs. "The decision to hold a convention on foundation laying ceremony was taken on September 14 and all the leaders were directed to bring at least a bus load of people from their constituencies," admitted a BSP MLA from west UP. "The supporters were also taken on a tour of memorials being build in the name of dalit icons. The under-construction Kanshi Ram Smarak Sthal, was opened for public viewing to impress party workers," he disclosed.
Interestingly, the event had characteristics of both a function organised by the government and a convention hosted by a party. If senior officers from CM's office were on the spot much before her arrival to supervise preparation, BVF workers were seen assisting police personnel in managing the crowd. Loud sloganeering and sounding of conch shells welcomed Mayawati on her arrival, a usual feature in all BSP conventions. Escorted by party general secretary SC Mishra and cabinet secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh, she waved at the crowd and in her speech lambasted the opposition and media for their `anti-dalit' stand.
Lucknow commissioner in his welcome speech described the `garden' in the memory of BSP founder late Kanshi Ram as a small tribute of Lucknowites to the dalit messiah. Police officers were seen instructing their subordinates not to leave till the venue was clear or else they would be marked absent. Never mind, if during this period many intersections in the city were left without a traffic constable. While officers of the Lucknow Development Authority heaved a sigh of relief on the `successful' completion of the event, BSP leaders were seen collecting their people for the journey back home.