With the Uttar Pradesh electoral joust not too far away, the shadow-boxing has begun. The Congress is going to town questioning the hundreds of crores spent by chief minister Mayawati on statues. In the other corner, Mayawati is being credited for uplifting Dalits and tribals and the success of India’s formula one debut is being placed at her door.
There is talk that Mayawati could emerge as a prime minister candidate if not as a kingmaker if the Bahujan Samaj Party does well in the assembly elections and repeats the show in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Which is why apparently the Congress is said to be pushing Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar as a potential PM to steal Mayawati’s thunder.
But, as always, the spectre of corruption hangs over her abrasive figure. Former civil servant Amitabha Pande writes in Mail Today:
“Mayawati’s corruption or the growth of her private wealth through the use of political power has a political, cultural dimension which is often ignored. It does not justify it, but it may offer a possible explanation for the blatant manner in which it is done.
“Purely in terms of scale Mayawati will rank quite low in the gallery of rogues in comparison with many members of the Union Cabinet, many present and former chief ministers, sundry progenies and sons in law of prominent political dynasties, and other shadowy denizens of Indian political life. Yet, while most others will evoke nary a reaction from the chatterati, Mayawati’s conduct invariably evokes voluble expressions of revulsion. Caste prejudice is undoubtedly at work here.
“There is also no doubt that as much as the upper classes hate her, her own constituency adores and admires her despite or maybe even because of the growth of her wealth. Her identification with her own lot is so complete that her growth is their growth and a form of retribution for centuries of servitude and exploitation.”
Also read: Is even Ambedkar safe in Mayawati‘s hands?
A leader whose time has come to cross her legs?
churumuri 
No way Mayawati can be PM. If she had done something worthwhile, there would have been a chance. Her statue building spree is not going to thrill her constituency. Indian electorate are not fools – forget Delhi, let her save her CM kursi first.
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This woman is pilloried 0% for caste, 50% for abuse of power for personal gain, and the other 50% for insidious divisiveness.
Her record in politics is selfish and cynical; she has shown a disgusting arrogance in rejecting some of the best traditions in culture and politics; she has shown little desire to build any of the institutions of our democracy. Really, she has displayed few, if any, redeeming virtues.
It will be sad sad sad if India will not pick a better candidate to to be Prime Minister.
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@Mysore Peshva, could you please cite instances for each of your charges. Makes it more complete and … credible.
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The last para is significant – what Mayawati represents > what Mayawati does… so yes, she has a not entirely impossible chance :)
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*pdk*
i understand. :) my strong positions, i admit, are informed entirely by news coverage (maybe a fallacy, given that we are discussing media coverage!)
in my defense, i have not had the pleasure of reading mayawati, if she has written anything, or interacting with her personally. all i have to measure her positions and personality through media coverage, which has given me a highly negative perception of her. the media coverage is quite extensive (a comprehensive lexisnexis search for “mayawati” tuesday afternoon produced >1000 newspaper stories)
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As I understand, she is an elected leader. Chief minister of the biggest state. Has quite a bit of money to last for a couple of generations at least. You might be hanged if you utter a word against her in UP.
Pilloried? wtf?
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If Mayawati is reviled for being a Dalit then Yeddyurappa was pilloried for being a Lingayat. Nonsense in both cases. It seems it doesn’t take long before someone trots out a defense based on a theory that the person belongs to some caste or class that is perceived to be worthy of prejudice.
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Mayawati is reviled for her corruption and abuse of power. If this woman becomes PM one day, India is doomed. We will see high double digit inflation, rampant shortages, and corruption on a scale not seen before.
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