Uttar Pradesh is about to elect a new state legislature. The results of the seven-stage polling in India’s largest state, which has 80 members of Parliament, will decide the fate of the government in New Delhi — and more particularly that of the Congress party which leads the national ruling coalition.
Behind the frantic campaigning of young politicians like Rahul Gandhi of the national Congress and Akhilesh Yadav of the regional Samajwadi Party, is a story about a state emerging from a black hole of economic and social inequity after decades. The outcome of the elections in UP, come March 6, has implications beyond India. A win for the Congress or the SP will boost similar dynastic inclinations among leaders and ruling parties in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. A defeat can cleanse the neighbourhood of an entrenched feudal habit, lower the barriers to entry in politics and encourage the rise of grassroots, representative leaders.
In the last four years, UP — a state long written-off as ungovernable and undevelopable — has been growing at 7 per cent on average. It is, for the first time in decades, on a par with India’s national growth — and if the next government pushes actively for growth, it could outpace the country.