Is Mayawati pilloried because she is a Dalit?
By churumuri
With the Uttar Pradesh electoral joust not too far away, the
shadow-boxing has begun. The Congress is going to town questioning the
hundreds of crores spent by chief minister Mayawati on statues. In the
other corner, Mayawati is being credited for uplifting Dalits and
tribals and the success of India's formula one debut is being placed
at her door.
There is talk that Mayawati could emerge as a prime minister candidate
if not as a kingmaker if the Bahujan Samaj Party does well in the
assembly elections and repeats the show in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
Which is why apparently the Congress is said to be pushing Lok Sabha
speaker Meira Kumar as a potential PM to steal Mayawati's thunder.
But, as always, the spectre of corruption hangs over her abrasive
figure. Former civil servant Amitabha Pande writes in Mail Today:
"Mayawati's corruption or the growth of her private wealth through
the use of political power has a political, cultural dimension which
is often ignored. It does not justify it, but it may offer a possible
explanation for the blatant manner in which it is done.
"Purely in terms of scale Mayawati will rank quite low in the
gallery of rogues in comparison with many members of the Union
Cabinet, many present and former chief ministers, sundry progenies and
sons in law of prominent political dynasties, and other shadowy
denizens of Indian political life. Yet, while most others will evoke
nary a reaction from the chatterati, Mayawati's conduct invariably
evokes voluble expressions of revulsion. Caste prejudice is
undoubtedly at work here.
"There is also no doubt that as much as the upper classes hate
her, her own constituency adores and admires her despite or maybe even
because of the growth of her wealth. Her identification with her own
lot is so complete that her growth is their growth and a form of
retribution for centuries of servitude and exploitation."
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