It is speak-as-you-please season in Uttar Pradesh politics. And that speak is mostly derogatory, which experts believe is mere posturing before the opposition can come together to take on the BJP.
What started as a battle of words over Madhya Pradesh, where the Samajwadi Party and the Congress decided to field their own candidates and not put up an united front, has now gone beyond the poll-bound state's border.
Congress state chief Ajay Rai said Yadav had no standing in Madhya Pradesh and should thus focus on helping the Congress. In turn, Yadav called Rai a 'chirkut' (worthless) and said he was not interested in talking to two-bit leaders.
Sudhir Panwar, a senior SP leader, said the language now being used by politicians was part of the evolution of the political-social milieu. "The burst of media and social media has caused leaders to believe that sobriety no longer influences people," said Panwar.
Of the numerous statements that SP chief Akhilesh Yadav would have made in the last week, the only one that has stood out and been trending on social media is 'chirkut'.
"There is a huge psychological influence created by the media to use such language," said Panwar.
Contrast Yadav's current volleys with 2017, when the only remotely absurd statement he made was a request to film-star Amitabh Bachchan to not promote the 'asses' of Gujarat. Bachchan was then brand ambassador of the state's tourism department.
Chandra Prakash Rai, once a Mulayam Singh Yadav loyalist, also took on Yadav by pointing out that such language was unbecoming of a man who had once been the state's CM. "He is an educated man, he has a long way to go. His language shows his desperation," Rai wrote on X.
Political language in the state is touching a new low also because the second and third tier of politicians are emboldened by the kind of language used by the top leadership, to get down to using expletives and abuses.
One such example is SP leader I.P. Singh calling Congress MP Rahul Gandhi a 'crazy dimwit'. Party insiders say there was in-party objection to Singh's language. That, though has not dampened Singh's spirits. He then went on to liken the BJP's power minister Arvind Kumar Sharma to an 'ullu' (owl).
Prashant Kumar Trivedi, associate professor at Lucknow's Giri Institute of Development Studies, said such posturing was to be expected pre-alliance. "Before an alliance is given a formal shape, there will be attempts to gain an upper hand, especially psychologically," he said.
That science of alliance could well be the death knell of basic courtesy in UP's politics.
