Kumari Mayawati is a well-known national politician. She has been on the national political stage since the 1980s. A veteran politician, she has risen rapidly in her political career under her mentor, Kanshi Ram, the founder of her party, the Bahujan Samaj Party. Mayawati has seen a lot of changes in the country’s politics. She has developed resilience to withstand the challenges of political life. The BSP has been in and out of many coalitions as needed by the party. Today, after a clean wipeout in the recent Lok Sabha elections, Mayawati faces the biggest political challenge of her life. The Bahujan Samaj Party is battling for survival, and she is at the helm. This article examines Mayawati’s life, beginnings, political career, and current news about her and the BSP.
Mayawati is 68 years old. She is the daughter of Prabhu Das and Ram Rati. She was born in Delhi on 15th January 1965. Her parents were simple people. Her father was a post office worker in Dadri village of Uttar Pradesh, while her mother was a housewife. Her parents wanted their children to study hard and build a bright future, and all their children went on to do that. Her family was Dalit. Being a Dalit had a profound impact on her life as she realized the challenges the people of her community and other similar backward communities faced years after the Independence of the country.
Education and Early Life
Mayawati started her education at a government school in Delhi and was one of the brightest students in the institution. She pursued her Bachelor of Arts at Kalindi College in 1975, affiliated with the University of Delhi, India. In 1976, after undergraduate studies, Mayawati went to Meerut University to obtain a Bachelor of Education. She also acquired a Bachelor of Law, LL.B degree from Delhi University in 1983. She worked as a teacher initially.
Mayawati wanted to join the Indian Administrative Services, which would allow her to work within the system to usher in a change. She met Kanshi Ram, a prominent Dalit leader, in 1977 when he visited her house. Kanshi Ram was impressed by young Mayawati’s ideas. Mayawati was also greatly influenced by his work. Kanshi Ram founded the Bahujan Samaj Party in 1984. Mayawati joined the party and was one of its founding members. Kanshi Ram was the one who motivated her to work in the political arena for the upliftment of the downtrodden, as he could see that she had the potential to be a politician. That is how Mayawati got into politics instead of the Indian Administrative Service.
After meeting Kanshi Ram in 1977, she started working with him. She became a member when Kanshi Ram founded the Bahujan Samaj Party in 1984. Mayawati’s membership was the formal beginning of her political career. She started speaking at public rallies of the BSP and drew attention with her fury speeches and ability to talk about the Dalit community’s cause. The common people of the Dalit and Backward classes soon started seeing her as a leader who could take up their voice and make it heard in the Parliament. Mayawati is affectionately called “Behenji” by the people even today. She started her political journey in earnest.
Her first political victory was in 1989 when she was elected to the Lok Sabha from the constituency of Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh in the 9th Lok Sabha elections. It was to be the starting point in a journey that finally positioned her as a critical player in Indian politics. In 1994, she became a member of the upper house of the Parliament, the Rajya Sabha. In many successive years, Mayawati started consolidating her position within the BSP, and after the decline of Kanshi Ram’s health, she emerged as his natural successor.
Mayawati – Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh
Mayawati’s most significant political achievement was becoming, in 1995, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, the first Dalit woman Chief Minister of the State. Mayawati was the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh for four tenures: in 1995, 1997, 2002, and 2007. The first stint in 1995 was short and lasted only four months. She then became Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in 1997, this time for 6 months. Her third stint as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh was in 2002, which lasted for 17 months.
In 2017, the BSP won a majority in the state, and she became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh for the fourth time. The fourth term was for the entire tenure of 5 years, from 2007 to 2012. She started several infrastructure projects, such as park construction, monuments, and memorials dedicated to Dalit leaders, most of which were within the state capital, Lucknow. These projects were meant to instill Dalit pride but were soon embroiled in controversy.
These projects soon landed her in controversy. She was accused of corruption and wasting money on building elephant statues and statues of herself and other Dalit leaders. People started questioning her growing wealth and fleet of helicopters and planes. She was investigated for disproportionate wealth and corruption charges in the Taj Corridor project. The Taj Corridor project was designed to beautify the areas near the Taj Mahal. The general public was also questioning the need to divert money from the needs of the people and Dalits to these costly monuments.
Mayawati’s Legacy and Impact
Mayawati worked tirelessly for the cause of the Dalits and the other backward classes. She realized she needed to get all these people and their votes behind her to reach the Vidhan Sabha. Mayawati worked tirelessly for that and united all Dalit ballots in her favor. These votes were distributed among parties that did not stand for Dalit causes earlier. Under her leadership, the Bahujan Samaj Party grew from a small regional party to a national party. Her name was even counted as one of the potential future Prime Ministers.
As Chief Minister, she tried to improve the state’s laws and order, especially women’s safety. She ordered strict action against offenders and brought a drastic change. Her notable contribution has been in starting numerous infrastructure-related projects in the state. These projects included roads, bridges, and power projects.
Recent News About Mayawati – BSP Leader
The last few elections have been difficult for Mayawati and the Bahujan Samaj Party. The BSP has faced failures consistently since the 2019 elections. The party could not win a single seat. This loss was a long way down for a party that once dominated the state.
The 2022 state elections gain showed a grim result; the once heavyweight party of the state could only manage one win in 403 seats. The party’s vote share was as little as 12.88%. This vote share number contradicted the popular perception that BSP had atleast a 20% vote share in Uttar Pradesh. Mayawati did not campaign much in this election and held only around 20 rallies. There was speculation that this could be due to some understanding with the BJP.
The 2024 general elections have shown the worst possible result for the BSP and Mayawati. The BSP could not win a single seat even though they had fielded the highest number of candidates. This loss was a big loss to Mayawati and the party. People were questioning her leadership, and there was speculation that she might no longer lead the party. This speculation has been laid to rest, and the party again recently chose Mayawati as their leader.
Challenges and Future Prospects
Mayawati’s main challenge today is keeping BSP relevant as a national party. The BSP is steadily losing its support base in its stronghold state, Uttar Pradesh. The inability to win a single seat in the recently concluded Lok Sabha Election is a grim reminder. It has lost support across all castes and categories. Added to that is the entry of a Dalit leader, Chandrashekhar Azad of Azaad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) in the Lok Sabha. His win speaks a lot about the party’s perception among its traditional vote banks. He is a direct threat to overtake the BSP traditional vote bank.
Mayawati’s main challenge is rebuilding the party and reconnecting with the people on the ground level. The party has lost this connection. The party recently elected her as Chief, which shows that it still trusts her to lead the way forward. She has been vocal on topics in the news recently, like the proposal to include Manusmriti in the Delhi University’s LLB course or criticizing the Congress’s Bharat Dojo Yatra. The SP and Congress are still keen to have BSP in the INDIA Bloc, but Mayawati seems to think otherwise. The road to redemption seems long for Mayawati and the BSP, and she will have to make some tough decisions and take action to keep the party relevant.
Conclusion
The story of Kumari Mayawati, from a little girl in Delhi to one of the greatest politicians in India, is one of perseverance and determination. Being a leader of BSP, she has contributed much to Indian politics; her contributions related to Dalit upliftment are many, and so are they to other depressed classes. It remains to be seen whether Mayawati can once again regain the momentum of her earlier political success. Despite what the future holds, there is no denying that her impact on Indian society and politics is immense.
