It’s Black. It’s White… It’s Black and White

Tuesday’s Cut Motions by the Opposition were cut short by the UPA. Some may call this a victory by show of strength or, by dividing the opposition or, by winning the support of its important allies. However, it would be incorrect to call it an absolute victory because there are some serious questions being raised about the way this issue has been handled by the UPA.
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How come Mayawati voted against the Cut Motions? Wasn’t she until recently being criticized by the government for her Malawati act or, her statues in UP? What about Rahul Gandhi’s open defiance of Mayawati on her home turf? Moreover, Mayawati too wasn’t much pleased with the government’s functioning and blamed it for being pro-rich.
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Lalu Prasad Yadav and Mulayam Singh may not have voted against the Cut Motions but, by staging a walkout they helped bring down the numbers required against the motions, significantly. Aren’t they the same people who were harping about the inept handling of the rising prices by the government? What happened to their ‘sadak se sansad tak bandh’ plan?
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An interesting aspect of politics is that there are no permanent friends or enemies in this line. The reason for this sudden support to the UPA could be because nobody wanted re-elections so soon. Or, because they did not want the communal forces to take advantage of their on-ground differences. The reasons could be manifold but, doubts still persist.
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Is it just a coincidence that the CBI has recently indicated that it may drop the disproportionate assets case against Mayawati? What about the timing of the meeting of the Prime Minister with a BSP delegation to consider speeding up the proposed Greater Noida airport project? What about the clean chit given by the government in the Noida park case in which environmental norms were flouted? Too many coincidences!
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This event has brought about some disrepute to the image of the UPA. Ideally, the government should explain its position on this but, even if it does not many shall be convinced. So, may be it decides to move on with its other programmes and let the controversy die its natural death. After all, it has already been successful in what it wanted to achieve.
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No matter what the UPA or BSP or RJD or SP say now, the truth shall never be known. There are too many questions left unanswered by this sudden turn of events. But, the heart of the matter is, does the end justify the means? Obviously there are no black or white answers to this. There shall always be grey areas in the politics of politics.