Dalit queen Mayawati's fatal attraction at rally
Birthday celebrations for Indian party lure bees and tax inspectors to
chief minister of Uttar Pradesh
Jason Burke in Delhi guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 16 March 2010 17.00 GMT
The moral for aspirant politicians, whether Indian or not, is clear:
If you are going to paint the town blue and flaunt a garland made of
banknotes, beware of bees and tax inspectors.
It is unclear whether Mayawati Kumari, the chief minister of the vast
and populous northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, expected to be
presented with the huge garland she wore at a public rally to
celebrate the 25th birthday of her Bahujan Samaj party (BSP) on
Monday, but it is unlikely she expected the political, fiscal and
insect reaction it was to provoke.
Everything else for the rally, in the northern city of Lucknow, had
been foreseen. In contrast to the normal chaos of Indian politics,
party workers had been told exactly how many supporters needed to be
bussed in, food had been laid on and buildings had been illuminated in
blue, the colour of the BSP.
Between 200,000 and 500,000 people – the population of Uttar Pradesh
is 190 million – were reported to have turned out to see their leader.
Yet it was the garland that caused the problems. The TV and press
images of Mayawati, who is a Dalit and thus from one of India's
poorest communities, draped in thousands of 1,000 rupee (£13) notes
prompted a political furore.
Politicians from the ruling Indian National Congress party accused the
former schoolteacher, who grew up in a Delhi slum, of betraying the
poor. Opposition parties inveighed against the apparent extravagance
of the gesture.
Mayawati loyalists defended their leader, who has repeatedly been
accused of wasting vast sums on projects including statues of herself
several metres high.
According to Naseemuddin Siddiqui, the BSP general secretary, the
notes in the garland were worth not more than £30,000 and were all
donated by local party workers.
But then there were the tax authorities. Indian media quoted sources
within India's national income tax department pledging an
investigation into whether the garland had been declared as a
political donation or a personal gift.
A counter-probe by the Uttar Pradesh police is already under way. It
aims to uncover the origin of the swarm of bees that surrounded the
chief minister on stage.
Mayawati's advisers said they feared sabotage.
"When Mayawati was addressing [the] rally, someone set fire to some
bushes in a nearby compound and that set alight the bees from the
beehive. These bees then moved rapidly towards the stage and wandered
around the chief minister for at least an hour, after which they
formed a beehive on top of the stage. Without fear, the CM went ahead
with her speech. But an inquiry is being conducted to find out who has
done this," a press release from Mayawati's office read.
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