Latest News Update: Mar 17, 2010

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

[ZESTCaste] Mayawati’s public display of wealth or affection?

http://blogs.reuters.com/india/2010/03/17/mayawatis-public-display-of-wealth-or-affection/

Mayawati's public display of wealth or affection?

Most of these garlands get swept aside or badly crushed. But not the
one recently presented to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati.

The several metres long garland made up of 1,000 rupee notes is now
garnering scrutiny from Income Tax sleuths of the country.

Mayawati's detractors strongly believe that this wanton display of
wealth by her party subverts the tenets of the Indian Constitution.

What further stokes the anger of critics is the Uttar Pradesh
government's incapacity to look after victims of a tragedy while
continuing to spend large sums of money on towering statues and party
functions.

The chief minister had recently drawn flak from several quarters for
being unable to provide compensation to families of as many as 65
people who died in a stampede after a temple gate collapsed in her
state.

Many in the country, including leaders from opposition parties,
suggest that Mayawati should be charged on count of misallocating
funds from the exchequer's coffers.

Mayawati's supporters say her acts are a source of inspiration to
millions of Dalits who have traditionally been forbidden from displays
of well-being and fill them with a sense of pride.

Even if this entire act is supposed to reinforce the party's image
among followers, should an elaborate display of wealth — folded
currency notes strung together — be a means to provide that fillip?

Extravagant celebrations and ostentatious display of wealth have
always caught Mayawati on the wrong foot.

In 2007-08, having paid a tax of 260 million rupees, Mayawati emerged
as the top taxpayer among politicians.

Cases of amassing wealth disproportionate to known sources of income
hound several in the political firmament.

But Mayawati's supporters have dismissed corruption charges by saying
the money came from donations. Two days after the first cash garland,
she was presented another garland of notes in a show of solidarity.

Should there be a law to prevent such displays of wealth, similar to
one that caps spending by a party during election canvassing?

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[ZESTCaste] India's Dalit champion Mayawati's £285,000 cash garland causes outrage

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/7460294/Indias-Dalit-champion-Mayawatis-285000-cash-garland-causes-outrage.html

India's Dalit champion Mayawati's £285,000 cash garland causes outrage

Mayawati, the Dalit governor of Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous -
and poorest - state, has been criticised after appearing at a party
rally wearing a garland made of 1,000-ruppee banknotes worth as much
as £285,000.

Published: 12:06AM GMT 17 Mar 2010

The controversial politician - India's first woman Dalit (formerly
"untouchable") chief minister - champions the cause of the poorest of
the poor, and has a huge following among those at the bottom of the
Hindu caste system. But she is often criticised for having amassed
vast personal wealth.

Outrage from opposition parties led to the adjournment of the national
parliament in New Delhi on Tuesday.

The controversy gives further ammunition to the Congress party-led
federal coalition in New Delhi, which is aggressively campaigning to
win over the key state of Uttar Pradesh in 2012.

Dislodging strong regional parties is seen as key to Congress' ability
to push through painful structural economic and political reforms to
modernise Asia's third largest economy in the years ahead.

Uttar Pradesh is politically important because it is the state that
sends the most lawmakers to the national parliament. But the state is
also home to about eight per cent of the world's poorest people.

"(She) mocks the people of the state by her extravagance," said Manish
Tewari, a Congress party spokesman. "Her priorities get very clearly
reflected."

The BSP said the money was from donations by supporters but has not
yet commented on the amount spent on the overall celebration.

Rival parties charged that Mayawati, a former teacher, spent as much
as two billion rupees (£29 million) to bus in supporters from the
countryside to fill up an 80-acre ground decorated with flowers.

Television channels re-ran footage of BSP leaders hauling up the
several metres-long garland made up of 1,000 rupee (£14) notes and
presenting it to Mayawati.

Mayawati has faced criticism in the past for her celebrations and for
building parks with massive statues of Dalit icons and leaders
including herself. She has also been accused of using public funds for
her party, a charge she denies.

While parties have generally had extravagant campaigns, the Congress
and main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party have of late sought to
project an austere face and limit lavish spending in the face of
increasing public and media scrutiny.

Monday's rally was seen as kicking off Mayawati's bid to return to
power in 2012 in the face of a rising challenge from the Congress
party, which heads the federal coalition and whose top leaders have
begun wooing Dalits in the state.

Her supporters say her acts are a source of inspiration to the
millions of Dalits who have traditionally been forbidden from displays
of well-being and fill them with a sense of pride.

But a lack of improvement of economic conditions under her government
has eroded some support and a revival of the Congress party. The BSP
has lost some elections after its thumping win in 2007, while the
Congress performed better than expected.

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[ZESTCaste] Dalit queen Mayawati's fatal attraction at rally

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/16/dalit-mayawati-rally-bees

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.