Blue is the 'new colour' of UP

But, this does not bother her ministers as well as officials who are on a mission to turn the state “blue” (the party’s colour).

“Blue” had been the most visible colour on the streets of Lucknow and other major cities in the state ever since Mayawati came back to power in 2007. And, the most recent is the reported order of state Health Minister Anant Kumar Mishra to paint a prestigious government hospital blue in Varanasi.

Ironically, the hospital has been named after BJP leader Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya.

‘Cheap politics’

The opposition parties are up in arms against the move and vowed to oppose the decision. “It is reflective of cheap politics,” said senior BJP leader and Varanasi MLA Jyotsana Srivastava.

The Samajwadi Party (SP) has gone a step further in its opposition to the move. Its workers have threatened to “re-clour” the hospital building if the decision was not cancelled. 

The hospital officials, however, said the “new colour” (blue) had nothing to do with any political party. “For us it is just another colour,” they said.

A close look at the important    crossings and streets in the state capital Lucknow would clearly reveal the efforts by the officials to turn the city into “blue.”

The dividers and iron railings across Lucknow have been painted in blue colour.
Even the thousands of Uttar Pradesh State Road Transpor Corporation buses have been painted in blue colour.

They all also display “Sarvajan Hitay, Sarvajan Sukhay”(for the benefit and happiness of the people), which is the much touted slogan of the BSP supremo.

Although the attempt to turn the state into blue could not bring success for the BSP in the 2009 Lok Sabha poll, the party might be aiming to do better in the 2012 Assembly elections.