Mayawati goes from behenji to BSP CEO

LUCKNOW: From shrugging off her hubristic pride to transforming into a leader bent on changing her party’s luddite image, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati has come a long way.

Her astute thinking and enterprising character has corporatised the entire functioning of her party. More poised and in full control of her immediate political milieu, the fiery leader has established a control room at her residence that is abuzz with the latest updates on the voting trend. Reportedly, it was set up after Mayawati urged to create a hub that would monitor the casting of votes, particularly by the Dalits. Mayawati now monitors the cell herself day and night.

Though she doesn’t have a management degree, her supervision of the party organisation would easily humble an MBA pass out. The information channel right from the polling booth, through the Assembly seat level co-ordinator, district co-ordinator, divisional co-ordinator, and finally to the control room is swift and accurate. 

“At any given time on a polling day, ‘Behn ji’(Mayawati) has a clear idea of the voter turnout in a particular constituency as about how much the party candidate would poll,” says an old BSP hand on conditions of anonymity.

According to BSP insiders, ‘Behn ji’ is now much more mature as compared to her earlier firebrand ‘avtar’. For one, the tone and content of her speeches has undergone a dramatic change. In the 2002 election, for instance, she spouted fire against ‘manuvaadis’ (read: upper castes), and “Dalit utpeedan” (atrocities against the Scheduled Castes). Now in her public meetings, she dwells on development, a mafia-free state and a strong administration.

Besides, the upper castes are part of her ‘sarv samaj’ votebank now. Under Kanshi Ram, the party’s credo was “Jiski jitni sankhya bhaari, utni uski bhaagi-daari,” justifying ticket-distribution to various castes on the basis of their numerical strength. Mayawati has changed it to: “Jiski jitni ho taiyyari, utni uski bhaagi-daari” (i.e. tickets on the basis of preparedness). She gave 139 tickets to upper caste candidates in this election which is an all-time high for the BSP.

In a brilliant example of forward planning, Mayawati started her Dalit-Brahmin experiment two years before there was any talk of this election. Most of the upper caste candidates had been finalised even before she addressed the ‘Brahmin Maharally’ last year. It was not just left at that.

She formed “Bhai-Chara samitis” at the district level with members from all castes to take the party’s new strategy down to the grassroots level. Party insiders say it’s this advance planning which has held Mayawati in good stead. So, while Mulayam addresses at least 10 public meetings a day, ‘Behn ji’ goes for just two. She is back in Lucknow by 4 pm after which she is on the phone monitoring the situation throughout the state till almost midnight.

“Behenji is very approachable now,” says a senior party person who has been at Mayawati’s sprawling bungalow in the posh Mall Avenue colony for several years now. Earlier, even the senior most party leaders used to think twice before speaking to her. “Now she tries to take the maximum phone calls possible,” he says. 

“Earlier, everyone used to dread her. Now that fear has changed to respect.” That, perhaps, is the most apt comment on the virtually magical transformation of the phenomenon that is Mayawati.