Mayawati, an intriguing political phenomenon

While political pundits were busy writing obituaries of Mayawati’s political career after she lost power to her bitter rival Mulayam Singh Yadav in 2003, Bose commenced his research on what he calls the ‘most intriguing political phenomenon of the times’. “I started researching for the book after Mayawati’s third regime collapsed in 2003, now many of the same people who had then written her off are calling her the most promising politician and I am being commended for the ‘timing’ of my book,” Bose says.

On what he found most remarkable about the Mayawati phenomenon, Bose mentions the fact that her party has risen on the back of mobilization at the grassroot level and not by gaining advantage of something violent happening in society.

“The most remarkable thing about her ascent is that she is not riding on any conflagration, in that it doesn’t pose any threat to our society,” Bose says, explaining that earlier both Congress and BJP, have stormed to power as a result of some major social conflagration in society, the former in 1984 and the latter in 1992.