In March 2010, as Mayawati thundered before lakhs of enthusiastic supporters at a political rally in Lucknow’s Ramabai maidan, with the cro...
In March 2010, as Mayawati thundered before lakhs of enthusiastic supporters at a political rally in Lucknow’s Ramabai maidan, with the crowd chanting slogans of ‘Jai Bheem’ in response, a swarm of bees came out from nowhere and descended on her. The crowd was stunned seeing the bees hovering over Mayawati, but the leader of the Bahujan Samaj Party stood her ground and declared that the bees were a blessing from heaven.
But this belligerence is no longer to be seen, say political observers. Mayawati, a leader known to take a fight head-on, has now gone into a shell.
While celebrating her 65th birthday on January 15 in Lucknow, the four times chief minister of Uttar Pradesh declared that the BSP would go alone in next state assembly elections, scheduled to be held in early 2022.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BSP had failed to win even a single seat. For the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, an alliance with the Samajwadi Party, once considered its arch-rival, helped the BSP win ten seats in the Lok Sabha. But a month after the results were declared, Mayawati had called off the alliance.
Since then, many of the political positions she has taken appear to favour the...
