Heartland trio puts up 'No Entry' sign for Maya

Poor Mayawati has to be politically eliminated.

Pre-empting her ascendancy to the throne of prime minister of India is the one and only one point programme of her three arch enemies -- Mulayam Singh Yadav, Lalu Prasad Yadav and Ram Vilas Paswan.

A Chakravyuh (a battle formation from which it is difficult to break out) has been cleverly crafted to trap her.

If she becomes prime minister, then their dreams of becoming prime minister get eclipsed automatically.

Otherwise, there is no love lost among the trio. Each would like to decimate the other two.

How come these three leaders have swallowed their political ambitions, pride and ego, and joined hands? How come they have buried past rivalries and hatred for each other and ganged up like close friends?

Why?

Political support to one another is not a reasonable motivation. But not by a long shot.

Mulayam's influence in Bihar is almost zero. Ditto is the case with Lalu and Paswan in Uttar Pradesh where their influence is almost non-existent.

Their target is their common enemy, Mayawati.

They know this ruthless woman strikes with lightning ferocity. She will hasten their doom once she becomes prime minister. This Capricorn's vindictiveness knows no limits.

God save Mulayam, Lalu and Paswan if she assumes power at the Centre.

The trio feel threatened by Mayawati's growing clout since their influence has been waning on their home turf.

By themselves, none of these three leaders can match her in terms of MPs. Why not, therefore, pool their resources, gang up and have a final tally which is somewhat bigger than her solo effort?

Say, she wins between 30 and 35 Lok Sabha seats all over India. Mulayam chips in with his MPs and so do Lalu and Paswan. Their combined tally could be, say, 40 MPs.

If the Congress is the single largest party, then there won't be much of a hitch in their homecoming. This gang will return triumphantly to their old partner.

Their reunion will be further facilitated by the obvious fact that the Congress/United Progressive Alliance will be equally desperate and require the Mulayam-Lalu-Paswan numbers to form a government.

In the process, Mayawati with her smaller tally of MPs will be left high and dry.

The UPA/Congress doors, which let in Mulayam, Lalu and Paswan, shall be shut in Mayawati's face.

Prakash Karat's Third Front has already refused to give Mayawati undue importance. Rather, it has cut her down to size. Her poor election score will further weaken her claim to be prime minister.

Trust the resilient team of Mulayam, Lalu and Paswan to poison the Third Front's mind about the unpredictable and unreliable Mayawati. The rest will be taken care of by the wily Maratha Sharad Pawar as well as the ever-resourceful Amar Singh.

The BJP-dominated National Democratic Alliance will be Mayawati's last refuge. She will snuggle up to L K Advani, offering him the support of her 30, 35 MPs. And she will demand the PM's post.

If driven to the wall, the BJP may agree. But this seems improbable today, seeing the ground realities.

The 82-year old PM-in-waiting Advani and his BJP will certainly not be too keen to accede to her unreasonable and premature PM-ship demand, on the basis of her meagre tally of 35 MPs.

Enter Mulayam, Lalu and Paswan with their gift basket of 40 MPs, with no strings attached.

Cabinet posts will do for them. No demand for PM-ship.

Paswan has worked in the NDA in the past and won't have a hang-up about working with the BJP once again.

As long as he gets a lucrative Cabinet berth, Paswan can be expected to reconcile and sup with the 'non-secular' BJP.

Lalu is too shrewd and opportunistic a politician and when he sees the NDA taking shape, he will jump onto their bandwagon. He has already started making the right noises.

Lalu's hatred for Mayawati and his desire to prevent her from occupying the PM's chair will guide all his moves.

Assurance of a Cabinet berth in the NDA will appeal to Lalu. More so, in view of Pranab Mukherjee having threatened and refused him a Cabinet berth in a Congress-led government.

As for Mulayam, the BJP's then assembly speaker Kesri Nath Tripathi had ensured his chief ministership in UP. He has many friends in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh/Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the temptation of seeing Mayawati out will be enough for him to perform any political somersault.

Mulayam's dream is to become the prime minister of India. But more than that, he is afraid of Mayawati's fangs. Slapping the National Security Act on Varun Gandhi has made him jittery and apprehensive of his own fate post-elections.

He will forego his own dream, but will resort to all the tricks to keep her out of the PM's chair.

This may sound far-fetched, almost impossible, but to save their lives and source of livelihood, these three politicians can be expected to sacrifice anything.

They have joined hands to pre-empt Mayawati's entry into any available camp that will form the government at the Centre.

Their shrewd strategy is to post a 'No Entry' board for Mayawati. All three sides, namely the UPA, the Third Front, even the BJP-led NDA, are being primed accordingly.

Mayawati is left with no option but to score more seats than Mulayam, Lalu and Paswan's combined tally.