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 Mayawati, the controversial queen of the Dalits, is in the news for all the wrong reasons ever since her crowning in 2007. Hers is the typical story of grit and determination to win against all odds. It is also the story of success of Indian democracy that opened the doors for an underclass woman to lead India's biggest state, Uttar Pradesh. Sadly, however, it is also the story of misusing public money for self-glorification and much ink has been spilt on that. Media and opposition parties have been crying hoarse over this politician, who champions causes of the poor, for her vulgar display of wealth - be it her lavish birthday parties, her diamond jewellery and real estate acquisitions or her statues and parks.
What her critics do not understand is that these outlandish acts are tactical moves on her part for the consumption of her Dalit supporters. For them, Mayawati's riches and power are symbols of collective Dalit power and wealth; her statues, Dalit entry into community space; and her birthday parties, their right to celebrations - all of which was forbidden for the underclass by the upper castes for centuries. So, while her critics find the sight of Mayawati getting a multi-million 1000 rupee note garland obscene, her underprivileged supporters get ecstatic by the same. Mayawati understands her vote bank way better than her critics and so she defiantly plays her wealth up for the enjoyment of her subjects - to show them the kind of power and wealth a "dalit ki beti" (daughter of a Dalit) can acquire.
Three years into power and she has been too busy acquiring - so much so that she pays advance tax of rupees 140 million - to have found time for positive policy making. She says it's all gifted to her by her impoverished supporters! The queen moves with a convoy of 34 vehicles to the great inconvenience of people - and commoners are not even allowed to look at her grand march. She transfers and suspends high ranking officials who do not toe her line, or who are suspected of being close to Mulayam. She unabashedly and deliberately ambushes welfare schemes of the Central government for the fear of Congress regaining foothold in her Dalit fort. While 26,000 vacancies remain unfilled in the police force in UP, Mayawati bends rules to create a special force at a staggering cost of 90 million rupees to protect her statues. This at a time when the state has the highest number of atrocities against the Dalits, not to mention highest crime rates in India. The same day, she refuses to implement Right to Education under the pretext of lack of funds.
This politics of symbolism may have given the Dalits immediate euphoria and a sense of empowerment, but it has not given them any real development. Uttar Pradesh fares poorly on all human development indicators. The state has highest BPL population of 56 million, over 60% of which belong to the SC, ST and OBCs. The state also has high migration rate, despite them being made clearly unwelcomed in Mumbai and Delhi. Nearly 40% of villages are without electricity. Teacher-student ratio in many rural schools is 1:100. Nearly 35% Dalits are illiterate, with hardly any having education above the secondary level and only 3% having graduation. Over 55% Dalits are employed in unorganized sectors. The land holding Dalit population is a mere 8%. Literacy rate of Dalit women is very low and despite Mayawati's victory, there are no Dalit women in the political space of UP. UP Dalits lag behind their counterparts in most of the other Indian states.
The problem with the Mayawati government is that indulgence in symbolism is all that is there on the cards. When a Dalit CM takes to the office for the fourth time in a state - this time with a clear mandate - it is strange to find her lacking a definite agenda for uplifting masses from the clutches of underdevelopment. But, like her previous stints as CM, this time too Mayawati has chosen to please her Dalit voters through symbolism and not through any structural changes for their socio-economic emancipation. Mayawati needs to understand that Dalits are no fools. They may not know that the social indicators in UP have not improved since May 2007, but they will realise soon if Mayawati is making no positive difference to their lives and they will stop voting for her. The below par performance in the Lok Sabha polls and the Assembly by-elections are indications of this. Her tenure was expected to give an impetus to the dream of a Dalit PM. And it is not the lack of results that dismays, it is the lack of solid efforts on her part which is disconcerting.
Mayawati has not only squandered away the goodwill reposed in her by the Dalits, but also a chance to rise above the identity politics and project herself as a visionary leader. Being a Dalit who came to power by forging an unlikely coalition with upper castes and Muslims, Mayawati was presented with a historic opportunity to move beyond the narrow caste considerations that had plagued the UP politics since the post-Mandal times and leverage this trust displayed in her by various segments of the society, to bridge social divides. She was confident in her inaugural speech about working for and with all social classes. But she failed to even meet the aspirations of the coalition that brought her to power. Mayawati is already backtracking from her "sarvajan" (socially inclusive) policy by dumping Brahmins from top positions. In hindsight, the coalition looked more like an opportunistic alliance on her part to get to power at all cost, than her vision to rise above the caste-politics. Now, she is back to doing the caste-arithmetic and desperate Dalit appeasement to strengthen her position for the 2012 elections. It is even accused that she indulged in vote splitting of Congress by allowing the Bareilly communal riots. With two more years left in power, instead of rectifying her mistakes by focusing on administering good governance and nurturing inclusive politics, it is a pity that Mayawati is choosing to go back to the basics of UP politics.
At the moment, behenji, as she is fondly called, seems extremely confident of perpetuating her rule by indulging in the politics of identity and exploiting Dalits emotionally, without doing anything concrete for the welfare of her people - the kind of politics that Lalu Prasad and Mulayam Singh practiced for years with their constituencies. She just needs to look where they are today.
Mayawati should have taken an example from the neighboring Bihar and the difference Nitish Kumar made to it and in return to his own political fortune, by breaking out of the narrow caste politics. It is strange that for an astute politician with Prime Ministerial dreams, she underestimates the potential to win votes across the caste spectrum by reviving the economic fortunes of the state.
Dr. Ambedkar had an opportunity to write the Indian Constitution. He created history by introducing reservations as a way forward to make all Indians equal. Mayawati, on the other hand, misused all the opportunities that democracy offered her, by doing precious little for the underclass. She was the mother goddess to her people; their savior who was expected to liberate them from social and economic subjugation. In the end, she turned out to be just another mortal; just another rebel with all lost causes.
Semu Bhatt is a Mumbai-based independent political analyst specializing in security and governance issues. She is co-author of Cost of Conflict between India and Pakistan and Cost of Conflict in Sri Lanka.
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