Animal spirits

Communalism, poverty and sub-Saharan levels of development assail Uttar Pradesh (UP). But over what are UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and the BJP's prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, trading charges? Lions and hyenas. The latter has talked about giving the state "the lions of Gujarat" and the chief minister has been snarling back comments about keeping them caged. Then UP Cabinet minister and Modi's staunch critic Mohd Azam Khan jumped in by asking the state government to return the lions to Gujarat to put an end to the "public insult" by Modi. The context: some time ago, the Gujarat government sent lions to UP for a proposed lion safari and the UP government reciprocated by sending hyenas to Gujarat for its zoos. The lion safari has not yet materialised, mainly because the state is waiting for advisors from Gujarat to find viable ways of introducing the big cats in Etawah's terrain. So the lions languish in cages, which is what Akhilesh alludes to in his rallies as a reflection of Gujarat's implementation skills.