New Delhi, Dec. 26: The BJP has begun to see hope for itself in Uttar Pradesh’s deteriorating law and order following Wednesday’s lynching of a PWD engineer allegedly by one of Mayavati’s MLAs.

The party feels the failure of the BSP regime to check crime and the Samajwadi Party’s probable alliance with the Congress will enable it to grab the entire space available for alternative politics in the state.

Although the popular perception is such an alliance would deliver a blow to the party’s fortunes, BJP leaders are looking at its long-term fallout. They foresee a “Bihar-like decimation” of the Congress if it clings to the Samajwadis for survival.

The Congress is at Lalu Prasad’s mercy in Bihar, and has to be content with the 3-4 seats it gets of the 40 in the state.

The BJP assessment is a Congress-Samajwadi alliance would force the upper castes and the urban middle class to return to the BJP.

The upper castes had tilted towards Mayavati during the last Assembly election mainly because of the poor law and order under Mulayam Singh Yadav, which was termed goonda raj by his rivals and the media.

BJP vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi alleged that goonda raj had turned into maha goonda raj under Mayavati, the only difference being in the colour of the flag that flutters atop the mafia’s vehicles.

“Petty criminals, big dons and the mafia are now using the blue flag instead of the green. New and far more dangerous dimensions have been added to the crime scenario; corruption has been replaced by loot and extortion and everything is being done under direct political patronage,” he claimed.

Arun Jaitley, the BJP general secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh, has lost no time in reaching Saharanpur to exploit the engineer’s killing.

The BJP has coined a slogan by playing on the one Mayavati had used to oust the Mulayam government.

That slogan said: “Chaddh goonde ki chhati par/ mohar laga do haathi par (Mount the criminal’s chest and stamp the elephant, BSP’s symbol).”

The BJP has turned it around to say: “Goonde chaddhe hain haathi par/ goli maar rahe chhati par (Criminals have mounted the elephant and are shooting people in the chest).