Swapan Dasgupta, Subhash Mishra and Farzand Ahmed outside Raj Bhavan in UPNews magazines don't just report events, they also anticipate them. Two months ago we did just that. Uttar Pradesh politics has always been explosive. Expecting another upheaval during the BSP-BJP alliance, we shifted Bihar Bureau Chief Farzand Ahmed from the tranquillity of post-Laloo Patna to Lucknow. Even he was unprepared for what occurred last week.The moment Mayawati withdrew support to the BJP, all hell broke loose. For four days a riveting game was played out. All the elements of today's politics - the United Front, Congress, BJP, the legislature, the executive, the presidency and the Constitution came into contact and conflict. It was potentially so explosive that we could well have been on the way to another general election. The enthralling drama focused on the best and the worst of Indian politics. On one side, the violence of MLAs gone berserk in the Assembly, a complete abandonment of all civilised norms of behaviour. On another, the decency and uprightness of President K.R. Narayanan suggested it is possible to emerge from the pits with some honour intact.It was a story that required solid team work. Deputy Editor Swapan Dasgupta travelled to Lucknow little expecting to be a witness to the mother of all brawls. Meanwhile, Ahmed and Senior Correspondent Subhash Mishra were detailing other facets of a political potboiler. In Delhi, Special Correspondent Javed Ansari spent nights outside 7 Race Course Road trying to make sense of never-ending cabinet meetings, Associate Editor N.K. Singh met the invisible Congress players, and Principal Correspondent Saba Naqvi Bhaumik camped out on Raisina Hill. It all worked well, but Ahmed is a disillusioned man: "After Laloo, I thought Lucknow was going to be a welldeserved rest." He was wrong. It's called the Biharisation of Uttar Pradesh.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Nov 3, 1997--- ENDS ---
