Saturday, May 12, 2007

Mayawati - Scheming fire-band or a superstar ?



Few women in North Indian politcs have evoked so much disgust, respect and awe, strictly in that order, as BSP supremo and CM of UP in waiting- Ms.Mayawati.

Be it her decision to join a struggling, blasphemous political outfit called Bahujan Samaj Party way back in 1984 or her decison to not support the BJP led central coalition in 1999, Mayawati's persona has always been ambigous.

She started out as an anathema at first but fast grew into an agony aunt for political outfits looking for string support of M.P's to form a government. The 90's saw her rise as an alternative to the Etawah wrestler Mulayam singh yadav and she was brilliant in observing and portraying herself as the messiah of the downridden.

Interstingly her political career has swung like a trapeze artists rope - The same political outfits that make mockery of her are going out of their way in singing paens about her -

Now that the Bahujan Samaj Party has won a majority in Uttar Pradesh, opposition leaders are bending over backwards to mend ties with Behenji. But Maya memsaab is in no mood for charity. Consequently, her rivals are having to eat humble pie. During the counting, as the BSP took the lead, Salman Khurshid, the UP Congress chief, declared that his party had offered to support the BSP. By evening, the BSP had a majority, prompting Mayavati to scupper Khurshid’s pledge of support. Khurshid wasn’t the only one getting the cold shoulder from Mayavati. Raj Babbar, with one seat in his party’s kitty, was quick to back the BSP. When Mayavati heard this, she pretended as if Babbar did not even exist. Meanwhile, Ajit Singh, along with many other independents, also found that there were no takers for them this time around. But none dared to criticize Mayavati’s show of disdain. Instead, they chose to blame the electorate and the EC for their fate.

Could her change in fortunes, form a platform to the ideas of forming a 3rd front at the center by another brave and brash woman down south of the vindhyas ? Time will defi tell.

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