The torrid charm of being a UP politician
UTTAR Pradesh (UP) chief minister Mayawati has resigned. She's ended, as a newspaper put it, her "third honeymoon' with the Bharatiya Janata Party, a coalition partner. It is being said the Taj corridor stink (see: "Sold down the river", July 31, 2003) is partly responsible for this fresh round of political crisis in the state. It might be, but the larger reason is pure self-preservation. Political formations in Uttar Pradesh like to implode upon each other; this is how governance perpetuates itself here. Once again, as leaders herd supporters into hotel rooms