‘Miracle of Democracy’. These were the words former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao chose to describe the rise of Mayawati in Indian politics. The story of a Dalit girl from a modest family background beating the odds to become the Chief Minister of India’s most populous and arguably, politically the most important state in India is indeed a miracle. This is a story of contradictions, compromises and control, in short, a fascinating story.
An icon of millions of Dalits, Mayawati is popularly known as Behen Ji (Sister). An UPSC aspirant and a teacher, perhaps politics was the last thing in her mind during her youth. This view was shared by his father as well who promptly disowned her when she decided to try her luck in politics. But we are getting ahead of ourselves. The journey of Mayawati: The politician begins, rather ominously, on a winter night.
On a Winter Night in 1977, a twenty-one-year-old schoolteacher was preparing to achieve her childhood dream to become an IAS officer. Suddenly there was an unusual loud knock on the door of her house when Mayawati opened the door, she was surprised to find famous BAMCEF leader- Kanshi Ram. It was her first encounter with the person who in the days to come would change her life forever. Her entire family was surprised by this unexpected visit. Kanshi Ram was already a well-known and respected Dalit figure among urban Dalit community.
According to a Tehelka report, Kanshi Ram came straight to the point. Kanshi Ram pointing at the pile of books scattered around Mayawati’s table, asked, ‘You seem to be busy studying a lot of books! What is it you want to become after so much study?’ Mayawati replied, “I am studying to pass the IAS exams and become a collector so that I can serve my community properly.” In response to this, Kanshi Ram declared, “I think you are making a big mistake.” He continued with the relentless persuasion, “Your courage, dedication to the Dalit cause and many other sterling qualities has come to my notice. I can make you such a big leader one day that not one but a whole row of collectors will line up with files in front of you waiting for orders. You can then truly serve the community and get things done.” The prediction came to be true in the near future. Kanshi Ram spent one hour at her house and changed Mayawati’s world completely. She divorced her old mission and embarked on a new journey. Without an iota of doubt, it was the defining moment of her life and career.
Mayawati abandoned her father’s house over difference with her father with respect to her entry into politics. She took shelter in the BAMCEF office in Karol Bagh and informed Kanshi Ram about her decision that she left her home for politics.
Kanshi Ram founded the BSP in 1984. Although, Mayawati joined politics but her struggle had only started. In the initial stages, she faced a lot of defeat and disappointments in the elections. In its first election campaign in 1984, BSP fielded Mayawati for the Lok Sabha (Lower House) seat of Kairana in the Muzaffarnagar district, for Bijnor by-election in 1985, and for Haridwar in 1987. In 1989 she was elected as the representative for the first time for Bijnor, with 183,189 votes, winning by 8,879 votes.
To say that this victory marked the turning point of her politics would either be an understatement or a misnomer depending on the vantage point of the political observer. Mayawati knew that this victory was more attributable to Kanshi Ram than to her appeal among the electorate, although that certainly was a contributing factor. The defining point of her political career came in 1993 when the SP-BSP came together, in order to stave off BJP from coming to power, in the state to form a coalition government. The coalition was not to last.
The Guest-house incident
In 1995, Mayawati withdrew support from the government to join hands with the BJP. This did not go down well with the Samajwadi Party and paved way for one of the most infamous, heinous incidents in independent India’s political history. On June 2, 1995, Mayawati was holding a meeting of party MLAs in Meerabai guesthouse in Lucknow. However, the SP goons got wind of the meeting and attacked the guesthouse. The BSP MLAs were beaten up mercilessly by the SP goons. Mayawati barricaded herself in a room to save herself from the wrath of the SP goons. According to media reports, she called up top police officials for help but her pleas fell on deaf ears. The mob was vying for her blood and it might well have gotten what it so desperately craved had it not been for an 11th-hour intervention. The help, or rather the savior, came in the form of BJP leader Brahma Dutt Dwivedi who rescued her from the wrath of the SP goons.
After this humiliating experience, Mayawati formed an alliance with the BJP serving as the Chief Minister for short periods in 1997 and 2003. However, her ambitious nature and a political agenda that constantly undermining the caste Hindus meant that the alliance with BJP was untenable and it did not sustain.
Between the years 2003-2007, Mayawati remained out of power but her popularity soared in the state. This rise in popularity was evident in the electoral sweep that the BSP achieved in 2007 state assembly elections. Mayawati was again at the helm of India’s most populous state. Armed with strong majority, a new agenda of social justice, Mayawati appeared invincible and that sense of invincibility eventually marked her downfall. Her five-year term has been more famous for her ‘statue politics’, an insecure, resentful and yet powerful politician’s ego-driven project.
Although she was thrown out of power in 2012 elections, the reality check of her political future came in 2014 General Elections in which BSP which was in power barely 2 years ago failed to secure a single seat.
In the subsequent years, that is until early 2019, Mayawati was relegated to the background of Indian politics. Many questioned whether she will ever be able to bounce back or this was it for Behenji. As it appears, the “Miracle of Indian Democracy” still has some tricks up her sleeve. Emboldened with more than satisfactory performance in the recent state elections, the sense of invincibility that marked her downfall has returned.
Politics is not a fair game. Enemies are temporary, alliances are transient but the self-interest, the quest for absolute power is paramount but even in this context, the decision of Mayawati to join hands with the arch-nemesis for 2019 General Elections is difficult to understand let alone justify. It remains to be seen whether this pernicious decision would mark the end of the political life of ambition, contradiction, and opportunism or would prove to be the beginning of a new phase.