Dear reader,
In Gabriel García Márquez’s The Autumn of the Patriarch, buried within the long, winding paragraphs is a phrase that could possibly elucidate what Mayawati might be contemplating now: “...we’ve had more enemies than we had soldiers”.
Emerging from the depths of a caste-ridden society, Mayawati, the four-time Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous State, embodied the aspirations of millions of Dalits. Her meteoric rise defied the tumultuous history of India’s political landscape, where power was predominantly held by the upper caste and class. Her journey attested to her determination and resilience.
Born into a humble family in a small village in Uttar Pradesh, she rebelled against social norms to pursue higher education. Her entry into politics, with the blessings of Dalit icon Kanshi Ram, was driven by a deep-seated desire to uplift her community and challenge the entrenched caste hierarchy. Leading the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), a party representing the marginalised and oppressed, Mayawati’s ascent to power was nothing short of remarkable. P.V. Narasimha Rao famously called it a “miracle of democracy”. In 1995, she became Uttar Pradesh’s youngest Chief Minister and first Dalit CM, shattering glass ceilings and inspiring millions of Dalits nationwide. Her populist policies, including the construction of parks, statues, and memorials dedicated to Dalit icons, resonated with her core constituency, earning her the moniker ‘Behenji’ (respectable sister).
However, the Mayawati miracle began to unravel soon. Her reign was marred by a series of controversies. Critics accused her of rampant corruption, extravagance, and autocratic rule. Lavish spending on personal projects, including life-size statues of herself, brought her the ire of independent media as well as the public. Her swift shifts in allegiance and pursuit of new alliances were labelled political opportunism, even by her closest supporters.
As expected, Mayawati’s political fortunes slowly dwindled. Her party’s performance in subsequent elections declined, and her once-loyal supporters grew disillusioned. The BSP’s grip on power in Uttar Pradesh weakened, relegating Mayawati to the margins of politics. Once touted as a potential Prime Minister, her fall from grace serves as a poignant reminder of the fragility of power and the fickle nature of public adulation.
Today, Mayawati’s decline mirrors the solitude of Márquez’s patriarch. The solitude, in her case, is not just personal but political, as her party struggles to find its earlier momentum. The charismatic and once adulated leader has found herself increasingly isolated.
Is this the autumn of Mayawati? Or is it too early to write her off? In this well-researched profile, Frontline’s Political Editor Anand Mishra tracks the retreat of the Dalit icon and her complex story that serves as a cautionary tale about the pitfalls of unchecked ambition and rampant authoritarianism.
In Ajoy Bose’s political biography of Mayawati, Behenji, a senior journalist in Lucknow says: “She thinks in a straight line, which to her is the shortest distance to get from point A to point B.” Perhaps that was her problem. In politics, straight lines are passé. One can only hope history will take a more sympathetic view of her and remember her as the champion of the marginalised rather than as the flawed politician.
Wishing you a great week ahead,
For Team Frontline,
Jinoy Jose P.
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