Arun Chaubey
A Dalit icon in the country, Mayawati has of late emerged on the national scene as the leader whose say may be crucial after the last vote has been counted on May 16.
Enrooting herself firmly in UP with her ‘Sarvajan’ experiment, she shrewdly knocked at the door of national politics during the voting on the Indo-US nuke deal and was very close to dethroning the UPA government had the BJP given her the requisite support, if we are to believe the reports.
In her Sarvajan experiment, Behenji known for spewing venom at forward castes in the name of opposing Manuwad gave tickets to Brahmins. A self-made politician, she has defied categorizations and has made inroads in the male forte of politics.
The elite's perception of her is not friendly, as they shudder at the thought of her climbing at the country’s top post. But in the era of coalition politics, she understands her indispensability if she manages to win about 50 parliamentary seats. It is stated that she didn’t take offs on weekend, and was busy traversing the length and breadth of the country to mobilize the Bahujan Samaj after winning the UP assembly polls.
Her zeal to expand BSP vote bank was even visible during the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh assembly polls, where her party contributed in spoiling the mathematics of the Congress. However, against the common perception that her party dented into Congress’ votes, in recently held Delhi Assembly polls, she rather helped Congress and hurt the vote bank of BJP.
Although BSP MLAs have defected to Congress party in Rajasthan, here also she managed to woo about 10% electorate. The impact of her continuous campaign would be visible after general elections, but it is being perceived that in north Indian states she would manage some surprising results. Perhaps, with this confidence she decided to field a Kerala veteran and ex-Congress MP Neelalohithadasan Nadar as the BSP candidate from Thiruvananthapuram against Shashi Tharoor.
It won’t be surprising if her party opens an account in Kerala, from where she kicked off her nationwide 52-day poll campaign, vowing to clamp down on terrorism and Maoist violence in the country.
With larger than life image in the psyche of Dalits, she got her statues erected rather than building schools, made parks instead of building houses. What her followers like in her is her hatred for the elite. This has been the reason that she never thought twice before kicking out any leader, who appeared remotely pose a threat to her.
It is really difficult to understand as to how a Brahmin leader like SC Mishra, BSP General Secretary, has managed to retain his prime position in the party. Mayawati seems to have realized the practicality of Indian politics, where any experiment needs the ideological backing of the Savarnas. She has even vociferously campaigned to provide reservations to upper castes if her party comes to power at the Centre.
Emerging as a strategist in her new Avatar to expand BSP’s base, Mayawati’s recent step of slapping the NSA on Varun Gandhi explains her courage to challenge any threat if it intends to affect her vote bank mathematics. She, perhaps, realized that over 20% Muslim electorate in UP can be given a strong message that she can stand with them like a rock if they feel insecure against fundamentalist threat.
Despite nationwide condemnation, she has shrewdly given the required message among the minorities. Perhaps, the message was loud and clear that the SP supremo Mulayam Singh came ahead to condemn her so called dictatorial style of functioning.
Mayawati has been accused of being involved in several corruption cases, but she has rebutted all charges. She has surprised people by emerging as the highest income-tax payer among all politicians in India. She paid a whopping Rs 26 crore for year 2007-08, and it was more than what industrialist and Forbes-listed Mukesh Ambani had paid.
Born in UP’s Badalpur on January 15, 1956 in a Dalit family, Mayawati completed graduation from Kalindi College of Delhi University, and studied BEd and Law from the Meerut University. From 1977 to 1984 she worked as a school teacher in Delhi. The turning point in her life was when she came in contact with the founder of the Bahujan Samaj Party Kanshi Ram.
In 1989, she won the first Lok Sabha election from Bijnore and never looked back. In the general elections of 1998 and 1999, she represented the people of Akbarpur. Besides, in 1996 and 2002 she remained a member of the UP Assembly and in 1994 she also got elected to the Upper House of Parliament.
Mayawati also has the distinction of being the first Dalit Chief Minister in 1995, again in 1997 and 2002 through an alliance with the BJP. But in May 2007 she surprised everyone and contradicted every poll prediction, with her victory as she came up with a single party majority government in Uttar Pradesh after 1991, where people had forgotten the concept of a stable government.