Symbol of Dalit power

An aggressive Dalit political agenda and a social coalition that turned upside down the traditional caste and community equations took Mayawati to the pinnacle of power in the politically largest, Prime Minister-making State of India, with her mentor Kanshi Ram fading out of fame. The silent social revolution gave her the distinction of being the first-ever Dalit leader to win an absolute majority in any State but the lack of a transformative agenda that would liberate Dalits from the centuries-old yoke of an unjust social order promises to keep her just a symbol of hope without changing the life of her constituency in substance.