What party democracy? Mayawati declares herself leader of BSP for ’20-22 years’

After declaring herself as PM candidate from the BSP and hurting the opposition’s prospects against PM Modi by declaring that there won’t be any pre-poll alliance, Mayawati has made another startling statement. She said, “No one should dream to become BSP president for next 20-22 years. I will continue to lead the party.” She also said, “Also, no one should dream to become my heir.” RIP internal party democracy. 

Although this reflects the lack of democracy within the party, we have to commend her for her honesty. This is unlike the pretence should by leaders like Rahul Gandhi, conduct NSUI elections and then kick out party members like Shehzad Poonawallah for trying to take him on in the presidential elections. But the fact of the matter is that the Congress is not the sole party without a democratic internal setup. While Congress is run by the members of the Gandhi family, several other national and regional parties follow the same tradition. Only Lalu’s family members are the decision makers in Rashtriya Janta Dal,  Samajwadi Party is all about  family members of Mulayam Singh Yadav; Shiv Sena, a party made for Hindu cause is now solely dedicated to the cause of the Thackeray family, while National Congress Party of Sharad Pawar stands for National Congress of Pawar Family. In JD(S), Deve Gowda’s son HD Kumaraswamy became next party Chief and now Chief Minister of Karnataka. There are many other examples of political parties that pretend to be committed to both external and internal democracy, but in reality practice the most blatant form of family favouritism. These parties operate like family businesses, and use politics and democracy as a tool to achieve their own mean interests. In such parties, there is no democracy but rather the dictatorship of one or more individuals based on family relations. This is the reason why they cannot tolerate a ‘Chaiwala’ as the Prime Minister of India. Ironically, these are the same political parties who claim that democracy is under threat every time the BJP wins a state election. Democracy is in danger only within their own parties.

As far as Mayawati is concerned, her statement is proof enough that she is no different from others. She behaves in an authoritarian fashion as far as party affairs are concerned, which the media chooses to turn a blind eye to solely because she is anti-BJP and anti-Modi.

However, the latest statement by Mayawati raises several questions.  What was the real reason behind her making such a statement? Is there anyone in the party is trying to replace her to become the next BSP president, like her brother or her nephew? After her party’s poor performance in 2019 General elections and UP Assembly elections, this possibility cannot be ruled out.  But then again, considering the fact that she has less than 20 MLAs and zero MPs in either house, it doesn’t really matter.