Illusory makeover?

As politician, Mayawati has been on an exciting growth curve. The leader of an aggressively dalit party, who flaunted her anti-upper caste postures and slogans, is now seen as author of a 8216;rainbow coalition8217; that includes upper castes, especially brahmins. Her decisive victory in Uttar Pradesh last year, following a long spell of tenuous coalition governments in the state, was attributed in large part to her newly inclusive politics, or at least a crucial shift in strategy. Having won UP, Mayawati is on the move. There is ample evidence of her efforts to enlarge the BSP8217;s footprint to other states, in order to build it into India8217;s first pan-India dalit party. For a politician as dynamic as she is showing herself to be, then, Mayawati8217;s latest foray into the news headlines strikes a dismayingly stale note.

Some Congressmen are conspiring to kill her, she says, and the UPA government must immediately provide her with SPG cover. She accuses the Centre of deliberately delaying the CBI decision on the disproportionate assets case against her. And suggests that all this could imperil the outside support that the BSP extends to the Congress-led government at the Centre. Much of this can be put down to the quickening political tempers between the Congress and the BSP in the recent past, likely to intensify in the near future. Post-mortems of the Congress8217;s underwhelming performance in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh at the end of last year have pointed to the BSP8217;s role as spoiler; this could be repeated in the several state elections to be held this year, beginning with Karnataka. Yet, there is more to Mayawati8217;s attempt to change the subject than just a heightened rivalry with the Congress party. Her tone and tenor portends a return to a politics that feeds disproportionately on her own persona.

The distinctive mandate in 2007 thrust a responsibility on Mayawati. It would be disheartening if she steps away from it now. The UP chief minister has already made a few missteps, like the rollback of a progressive agriculture policy that promised better remuneration to farmers by allowing private sector participation, only 20 days after announcing it. Many more tests are coming up ahead. The Ganga Expressway project, which will ensure high speed connectivity between the eastern and western boundaries of UP, is provoking noisy opposition already. As she and her partymen and women celebrate her 52nd birthday a few days from now, Mayawati would do well to pause a moment and reflect on the promises she has made to her electorate, some despite herself, and the costs of breaking them.