 "Modi wave leaves Maya at sea")
Clad in a cream coloured salwar kameez and black footwear, Mayawati appears from an helicopter amid the deafening cheers, clapping and slogan-shouting by a crowd of roughly 10,000 people.
“Sarva samaj ke samman mein, Behenji maidan mein (In the interest of the society at large, Behenji is here)”. “Chalega hathi uregi dhool, na rahega panja na rahega phool (The elephant, BSP’s election symbol, will march on and shake the earth; neither hand, Congress’ symbol, nor the flower, Bharatiya Janata Party’s symbol lotus, will endure that).”
These slogans reverberate through the large ground, close to the Indian Institute of Management-Lucknow, till Black Cat commandos walk her to the stage decorated in blue and white. (BEHENJI & THE BSP)
Currently, there is no Dalit leader to match her stature in the country. Neither has she allowed anyone to grow enough to pose a threat to her position. It is her way or the highway. The unopposed president of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) for the past decade draws her strength from 201.4 million people or India’s 16.6 per cent Scheduled Castes (SC) population.
An equal number of people from the Other Backward Classes (OBCs), too, throw their political weight behind the Dalit czarina. Some estimates suggest SC and OBC taken together form 41 per cent of Uttar Pradesh (UP)’s population.
But, despite the formidable support base, Mayawati is worried and baffled.
In the 2012 Assembly elections, she lost five per cent of her votes as compared to the previous elections of 2007. This slight reduction in votes resulted in her party losing 126 seats, mostly to the Samajwadi Party (SP). She is facing a fresh threat of desertion in parliamentary elections but this time to the so-called Narendra Modi wave, sweeping the state that sends 80 seats to the Lok Sabha.
“The daughter of a Dalit will become prime minister only if you remain undivided,” she preaches to the gathering. Her supporters were waiting for her for the last five years. Today they are there to listen to her, braving 42°C.
The Modi wave has ostensibly made a dent on BSP’s Dalit votebank. Some OBC communities, Brahmins and other upper castes, too, are believed to be returning to the BJP. This has catapulted the BJP candidates into a close fight with their BSP rivals in most seats.
The more formidable the rival, the more attention the contest gets. Mayawati, a canny politician, senses this. She devotes most of her one-hour speech to lashing at the BJP. Two air conditioners, next to the podium, fail to calm her anger. “Don’t vote for them, they are misguiding you by calling you their Hindu brothers. They come to your house and eat in your utensils but after elections they will not allow you to sit next to them.”
The BJP is perceived as a party of upper castes. Over the years, it has lost considerable ground to the SP and the BSP in the state and relegated to fourth position behind the Congress, with its all-time low of 10 Lok Sabha seats in 2009 elections. But the deployment of Modi’s lieutenant, Amit Shah, known for his organisational skills, has changed the poll arithmetic. The state machinery has been revived and the BJP cadre is reaching every booth.
In addition, the BJP has created a high-tech media campaign, spending crore of rupees to capture public attention. This has worried Mayawati the most. Her speeches betray her angst. She attends two mega rallies, covering four parliamentary constituencies, a day.
The frustration among the BSP cadre, too, is palpable. Every BSP leader feels the media is giving undue benefit to the BJP. “They don’t cover BSP; this is why you don’t see us in the television channels or newspapers. The reasons are best known to you,” says Brajesh Pathak, BSP candidate from Unnao.
To an extent, her cadre is right. Her Lucknow rally was telecast live by only one channel with limited reach. Besides, most of the newspapers daily carry a front page advertisement of Modi and his party. This pent-up anger found expression when a local BSP leader abused newspaper reporters and suggested they should be seated on the ground before the rally is begun.
“Our campaign is silent but is reaching every voter. This will show results on May 16,” says a BSP leader. He refused to be identified, to protect himself from Mayawati’s wrath, who doesn’t like her people to speak to the media.
Though the BSP never comes out with an election manifesto, it is again making overtures to Brahmins by nominating 21 of them out of 80, the largest number after Dalits. Many perceive it as a counter-strategy to the BJP but some also feel it might not give her an edge.
“Brahmins have still not forgotten the insult,” says Ashish Tripathi, a local of Jhansi, recalling the party’s slogans of previous years: “Tilak, tarazu aur talwar, inko maro joote char (thrash the Brahmin’s tilak, the Vaishya’s scales and the warrior’s sword).” Also, the BSP was seen working more for the Jatavs, her core vote base, during her party’s reign from 2007 to 2012.
But BSP’s Brahmin face and Mayawati’s trusted aide, Satish Mishra, has not lost hope. He is accentuating BJP’s insult to the community. “Harin Pathak, Murli Manohar Joshi, K C Nath, Kalraj Mishra, Lal Muni Choubey… all have been insulted by the BJP,” he tells the gathering that has a handful of upper caste leaders.
The chorus of 2007 social engineering slogans, however, is missing from the scene. “Hathi nahi Ganesh hai, Brahma Vishnu Mahesh hai.” “Brahmin shankh bajayega, hathi Dilli jayega.” It has been replaced by “Sarva samaj ke samman mein, Behenji maidan mein.”
Many BSP workers admit they have to work a little harder in these elections. Besides, facing threats of intimidation from their regional rival to demoralise them. “SP supporters vandalised the car of a BSP candidate and beat her drivers after the elections on November 30,” says Rahul Shukla, a university lecturer in Jhansi.
A BSP leader says their cadre is like a mouse, which enters from one hole and comes out through another. But the work continues.
Assets & liability
2012 Rajya Sabha affidavit
Assets: Rs. 111 crore
Liability: Rs. 87 lakhs
2004 Lok Sabha affidavit
Asset: 11 crore
Liability: Nil
Source: Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR)
“Sarva samaj ke samman mein, Behenji maidan mein (In the interest of the society at large, Behenji is here)”. “Chalega hathi uregi dhool, na rahega panja na rahega phool (The elephant, BSP’s election symbol, will march on and shake the earth; neither hand, Congress’ symbol, nor the flower, Bharatiya Janata Party’s symbol lotus, will endure that).”
These slogans reverberate through the large ground, close to the Indian Institute of Management-Lucknow, till Black Cat commandos walk her to the stage decorated in blue and white. (BEHENJI & THE BSP)
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Behenji (sister), a moniker 58-year-old Mayawati earned following her decision to stay single, first spelt out her dream of becoming India’s first Dalit prime minister from this platform several years ago.
Currently, there is no Dalit leader to match her stature in the country. Neither has she allowed anyone to grow enough to pose a threat to her position. It is her way or the highway. The unopposed president of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) for the past decade draws her strength from 201.4 million people or India’s 16.6 per cent Scheduled Castes (SC) population.
An equal number of people from the Other Backward Classes (OBCs), too, throw their political weight behind the Dalit czarina. Some estimates suggest SC and OBC taken together form 41 per cent of Uttar Pradesh (UP)’s population.
But, despite the formidable support base, Mayawati is worried and baffled.
In the 2012 Assembly elections, she lost five per cent of her votes as compared to the previous elections of 2007. This slight reduction in votes resulted in her party losing 126 seats, mostly to the Samajwadi Party (SP). She is facing a fresh threat of desertion in parliamentary elections but this time to the so-called Narendra Modi wave, sweeping the state that sends 80 seats to the Lok Sabha.
“The daughter of a Dalit will become prime minister only if you remain undivided,” she preaches to the gathering. Her supporters were waiting for her for the last five years. Today they are there to listen to her, braving 42°C.
The Modi wave has ostensibly made a dent on BSP’s Dalit votebank. Some OBC communities, Brahmins and other upper castes, too, are believed to be returning to the BJP. This has catapulted the BJP candidates into a close fight with their BSP rivals in most seats.
The more formidable the rival, the more attention the contest gets. Mayawati, a canny politician, senses this. She devotes most of her one-hour speech to lashing at the BJP. Two air conditioners, next to the podium, fail to calm her anger. “Don’t vote for them, they are misguiding you by calling you their Hindu brothers. They come to your house and eat in your utensils but after elections they will not allow you to sit next to them.”
The BJP is perceived as a party of upper castes. Over the years, it has lost considerable ground to the SP and the BSP in the state and relegated to fourth position behind the Congress, with its all-time low of 10 Lok Sabha seats in 2009 elections. But the deployment of Modi’s lieutenant, Amit Shah, known for his organisational skills, has changed the poll arithmetic. The state machinery has been revived and the BJP cadre is reaching every booth.
In addition, the BJP has created a high-tech media campaign, spending crore of rupees to capture public attention. This has worried Mayawati the most. Her speeches betray her angst. She attends two mega rallies, covering four parliamentary constituencies, a day.
The frustration among the BSP cadre, too, is palpable. Every BSP leader feels the media is giving undue benefit to the BJP. “They don’t cover BSP; this is why you don’t see us in the television channels or newspapers. The reasons are best known to you,” says Brajesh Pathak, BSP candidate from Unnao.
To an extent, her cadre is right. Her Lucknow rally was telecast live by only one channel with limited reach. Besides, most of the newspapers daily carry a front page advertisement of Modi and his party. This pent-up anger found expression when a local BSP leader abused newspaper reporters and suggested they should be seated on the ground before the rally is begun.
“Our campaign is silent but is reaching every voter. This will show results on May 16,” says a BSP leader. He refused to be identified, to protect himself from Mayawati’s wrath, who doesn’t like her people to speak to the media.
Though the BSP never comes out with an election manifesto, it is again making overtures to Brahmins by nominating 21 of them out of 80, the largest number after Dalits. Many perceive it as a counter-strategy to the BJP but some also feel it might not give her an edge.
“Brahmins have still not forgotten the insult,” says Ashish Tripathi, a local of Jhansi, recalling the party’s slogans of previous years: “Tilak, tarazu aur talwar, inko maro joote char (thrash the Brahmin’s tilak, the Vaishya’s scales and the warrior’s sword).” Also, the BSP was seen working more for the Jatavs, her core vote base, during her party’s reign from 2007 to 2012.
But BSP’s Brahmin face and Mayawati’s trusted aide, Satish Mishra, has not lost hope. He is accentuating BJP’s insult to the community. “Harin Pathak, Murli Manohar Joshi, K C Nath, Kalraj Mishra, Lal Muni Choubey… all have been insulted by the BJP,” he tells the gathering that has a handful of upper caste leaders.
The chorus of 2007 social engineering slogans, however, is missing from the scene. “Hathi nahi Ganesh hai, Brahma Vishnu Mahesh hai.” “Brahmin shankh bajayega, hathi Dilli jayega.” It has been replaced by “Sarva samaj ke samman mein, Behenji maidan mein.”
Many BSP workers admit they have to work a little harder in these elections. Besides, facing threats of intimidation from their regional rival to demoralise them. “SP supporters vandalised the car of a BSP candidate and beat her drivers after the elections on November 30,” says Rahul Shukla, a university lecturer in Jhansi.
A BSP leader says their cadre is like a mouse, which enters from one hole and comes out through another. But the work continues.
Assets & liability
2012 Rajya Sabha affidavit
Assets: Rs. 111 crore
Liability: Rs. 87 lakhs
2004 Lok Sabha affidavit
Asset: 11 crore
Liability: Nil
Source: Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR)