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With supporters of the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party taking to the roads in Lucknow, the stage is set for a massive show of strength by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Saturday.
The entire city has virtually turned blue, with BSP banners and flags all over the place.
The chief minister will hold a 'Dhikkar Rally' [Condemnation Rally] in the state capital and the target of her attack will be Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.
He had called Mayawati's pet project, the Dr B R Ambedkar memorial being built in Lucknow, a 'den of debauchery'.
Bharatiya Janata Party stalwart and Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani will provide a saffron touch to the BSP's blue. He will share the dais with Mayawati and her political mentor Kanshi Ram.
UP BJP chief Vinay Katiyar and his predecessor Kalraj Misra will also attend the rally.
By roping in the BJP leaders, Mayawati wants to show that the five-month-old BJP-BSP coalition in the state is here to stay.
There is another reason behind the deputy prime minister's decision to grace the rally. The chief minister had recently declined to issue a fresh notification that would have revived criminal proceedings against Advani in the Ayodhya case.
But the rally is going to prove expensive to the state. Instead of holding the meeting at the usual ground, Mayawati is holding the rally at another facility at the other end of the city.
Teams from the Lucknow Development Authority, Public Works Department, Municipal Corporation, Jal Nigam and other civic agencies have been working non-stop to give a makeover to the land, which was being used for agricultural purposes by the inmates of the Model Jail.
Trees have been chopped and the entire 25-acre area has been levelled. A boundary wall has been erected and final touches are being given to a tall, impressive gate.
One of the agencies has spent around Rs 10 million to ready the ground.
However, officials are tight-lipped about what the other agencies have spent. Surely, the amount will be colossal, considering that a large chunk of the state's 17 crore people lives below the poverty line.
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