Once known as the United Provinces, the state he ran had previously been the jewel of colonial India, blessed by lush farmland and dotted with cosmopolitan cities. But after Independence, India’s old regional balance gradually began to reverse. Once undeveloped parts of the south and west grew quickly, while UP and other northern heartland states slid gradually backwards, hobbled by feudalism, administrative incompetence and grinding poverty. Later, a new phrase hung over the place: ‘Goonda Raj’, taking the Hindi word for thug as shorthand for lawlessness and graft.
