Akhilesh needs 'quick fix' for good relation with Centre

With Narendra Modi set to become India’s next prime minister after Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) victory in the Lok Sabha polls, the Akhilesh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh needs to quickly realign its strategies and forge a workable relationship with the Centre.

The Akhilesh regime had a happy sailing under the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre in the last two years, wherein UP got liberal doses of funds and other support.

Under UPA government, the state annual plan allocation by the Planning Commission during 2013-14 rose by 20 per cent to Rs 69,200 crore. Also, during 2012-13, the annual plan of Rs 57,800 crore had included a grant of Rs 800 crore for Allahabad Kumbh Mela. Additionally, Rs 20,000 crore was allocated for centrally sponsored schemes, which summed up total approval at Rs 77,800 crore for 2012-13.

With the changed political equations and under the shadow of high voltage poll rhetoric, it would be imperative for the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) government to build cordial relations with the dispensation at the Centre.

The Akhilesh government is already on a sticky wicket after the drubbing it received in the general elections, wherein it was reduced to just five seats, down from 22 seats it had won in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls. Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav has won from both Mainpuri and Azamgarh constituencies and he would need to give up a seat for the by-poll.

However, political pundits say even the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government would prefer to work in tandem with the UP government and score positives in run up to the 2017 Assembly polls.

This seems plausible given that pollsters have predicted BJP to corner maximum seats in UP, which accounts for the maximum number of parliamentarians at 80.

Narendra Modi had already talked about adopting a cooperative attitude in governance and had given indications of retaining the Varanasi seat over Vadodara, the two constituencies he contested in the just-concluded Lok Sabha polls.

“Any confrontationist attitude would be detrimental for the development of the state. The states are expected to put up their case strongly before the Centre for deriving maximum benefits,” former Lucknow University (LU) economics department head Yashvir Tyagi told Business Standard.

UP needs environment clearances for infrastructure projects, coal linkages to proposed thermal plants, cooperation in proposed Lucknow metro rail project, railway linkages, etc.

Meanwhile, UP Cabinet minister Rajendra Chaudhary played down any adverse effect on UP’s development plans with NDA coming to power. “Even under UPA, UP did not get its rightful share and the state government had to marshal its own resources,” he alleged.