Lucknow:
The revelry is yet to abate, the new Samajwadi Party government is yet to be formed. Indeed, even the new Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister has not been decided upon and what would be Akhilesh Yadav's worst nightmares, have come to haunt. In the aftermath of a spectacular electoral win, there have been several incidents of violence in the state and most, reportedly, involve SP workers.
Throughout the much-feted campaign that won him UP and in his thanksgiving, Akhilesh Yadav emphasised that law and order was his party's one big agenda. He promised UP freedom from "Goonda Raj" and said, "We will deal with an iron hand with SP workers who indulge in goondaism and violence." Three days later, he has those "iron hands" full already.
On Holi, a BSP village pradhan, Munna Lal, a Dalit, was brutally murdered in Mansukhpura Agra; six assailants stormed into his house, ransacked it, and then repeatedly stabbed Munna Lal with a spear till he died. They were all allegedly Samajwadi Party workers. No arrests have been made yet.
Over the last three days, Dalits have been soft targets.
Dalits in Sitapur say their homes were burnt by alleged SP supporters because they supported an independent candidate. In Balia, five women and children were allegedly beaten by SP workers because people from their village voted for the Janata Dal United candidate.
In Firozabad, supporters of an SP candidate who lost, blocked the highway to show their disappointment. On Tuesday, even as the SP's top leaders were thanking UP for the gift of 224 seats, an unruly mob of SP supporters attacked and cornered journalists in Jhansi till Akhilesh Yadav had to intervene.
Then, a former BSP minister Ram Achal Rajbhar's son Sanjay Rajbhar opened fire at villagers in Ambedkarnagar after he landed in the village to confront those who had not voted for him. Two villagers were injured and an angry mob later put fire to Sanjay Rajbhar's cars and a rice mill owned by the former minister.
All this is bad news for Yadav Junior, who resurrected the political fortunes of the Samajwadi Party with that image make-over that had at its core a promise that the SP was no more the "party of goons" that its political rivals still insist it is.
Mayawati has declared that she is grabbing ringside seats to watch what she promises will be an era of lawlessness in the state that she ruled for the last five years before she was given marching orders by voters this week. Uma Bharti of the BJP said, "If you remember you had asked me earlier how I felt when I got to know that SP was in the lead during counting, I had said that I felt sorry for the people. I felt worried about what would happen to the state. SP has always been a criminal party and they propagate violence. The incidents that happened are worrisome."