Mayawati fought single-handedly aided by a rainbow coalition to decimate her opponents and become chief minister of Uttar Pradesh for the fourth time.
LUCKNOW: Emerging from the shadow of her political mentor and BSP founder Kanshi Ram, Mayawati fought single-handedly aided by a rainbow coalition to decimate her opponents and become chief minister of Uttar Pradesh for the fourth time.
The grit and political acumen of the 51-year-old daughter of a lowly government employee from western Uttar Pradesh was amply reflected when she gave tickets to 94 candidates from the Brahmin community in the elections, a strategy that paid off handsomely.
It was the first time that the BSP was in the electoral fray without the presence of Kanshi Ram, who died last year, and is all set to capture power virtually on its own. In her three earlier terms as chief minister, Mayawati headed coalitions.
Born on January 15, 1956 in Delhi, Mayawati's crowning moment came in 1995 when she became Chief Minister of the country's most populous state though she remained in office only for four months as the coalition with Mulayam Singh Yadav ended abruptly.
In 1997, the spinster again became Chief Minister for six months under an agreement with her bitter rival, the BJP. The arrangement did not work and ended in political chaos in the state in late 1997.
Mayawati occupied the Chief Minister's office for the third time in 2002. Her government formed with the support of the BJP lasted 18 months. She had to resign in 2003 after she was indicted by the Supreme Court in the Taj Corridor case. A CBI probe was also ordered in the case.
Daughter of an employee of Post and Telegraph department, Mayawati, who has six brothers and two sisters, had participated in youth agitations in her student days and was always eager to do something for the Dalits, backwards and minority communities.
She had worked as a teacher in different government schools in Delhi from 1977 to 1984 besides being associated with Backward and Minority Communities Employees Federation. She left teaching in 1984 and entered politics full time.
Mayawati joined the BSP launched by Kanshi Ram and contested the 1984 Lok Sabha elections. However, her electoral debut was a failure as she lost the polls from Muzzafarnagar.
She had also lost two bye-elections to the Lok Sabha from Bijnor (1985) and Haridwar (1987) and anyone else in her place may have given up.
But she was tenacious enough to contest for the third time from Bijnor and entered the Lok Sabha in 1988.
She was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1994 and made a mark with her bold, fiery speeches for the cause of the weaker sections.
During the April 1999 confidence vote after giving broad indications that her party would abstain from voting which could have saved the then Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, Mayawati led her BSP flock in voting against, thus triggering the fall of the government.
Being new in Parliament, Mayawati was not conversant with rules and regulations. What appeared to impress her was the practice of some opposition members to rush to the well of the House when the issues raised by them were disallowed by the Speaker and often gherao the Speaker's podium.
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