have been elected to the state assembly and the Lok Sabha from both the Congress( I) and the RPI. In fact there has been an unwritten political understanding between the Congress and the Mahars, brought about first by Y B Chavan in the early sixties when he struck a political deal with the then RPI leader, Bhaurao Oaikwad, one of B R Ambedkar's proteges. The state government has generously rewarded RPI and Dalit Panther leaders with appointments to government bodies and committees and the boards of government corporations. The government was thus anxious to accommodate the Mahars and the latter on the other hand were not keen to embarrass the government unduly. A week before the Mahar's February 5 demonstration in Bombay, the leaders of the Maratha Mahasangh had declared in Pune that their organisation was not against B R Ambedkar and the Mahars and that the Middles' issue should be amicably settledLike the RPI and the Dalit Panthers, different factions of the AT a time when the economy of the rest of the country is reeling from the ravages of drought, on the one hand, and flood on the other, the economy of the eastern part of UP is flourishing. Lying as it does between the drought hit north and west of the country and the flood affected east, Poorvanchal was blessed with ideal weather conditions this past kharif season, yielding good returns from agriculture and a vibrant local economy. Yet, the decentralised textile industry, a major component of the economy of the region is in the midst of a severe recession; 50 per cent of looms are reported to have closed down. Weavers are faced with the prospect of migration to the now not-too- vibrant power loom belt of western India, enrolment (often for the first time) in the amorphous and plentiful army of landless agricultural labour or, worse, starvation. The cause of this bleak scenario consists of an unfortunate combination of the misfortunes resulting from the effects of weather patterns on the wider national economy and the mismanagement entailed Maratha Mahasangh are close to the Con- gress(I) leadership in the state and are currently seeking positions for Maratha youth in the zilla parishad elections with Congress help. The Shiv Sena has been pleading with the Maratha Mahasangh to support it in the zilla parishad elections, but the Mahasangh has not responded favourably to these overtures.
