Mayawati, president of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) was the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. Mayawati Kumari is considered to be an emblem for millions of India?s Dalits, or Untouchables, as she is the first Dalit Woman Chief Minister of any Indian states. In the Uttar Pradesh Elections, 2007, she is widely comprehended as the architect of the sensational BSP victory. With support from the BJP, briefly during 1995 and 1997, and from 2002 to 2003, she had been the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh for 3 times. Affectionately called Behen-ji, meaning Sister, Mayawati has also faced many controversies. The increase in her personal possessions as well as of her party is seen as a sign of corruption by critics.
Early life of Mayawati
On 15th January 1956, Mayawati Naina Kumari was born to Prabhu Das, a clerk in the Telecommunications department in Delhi, and mother Ram Rathi. She did her graduation from Kalindi College in Delhi. She further studied law at the University of Delhi. She also holds a Bachelor of Education degree, and worked as a teacher in Delhi before starting up her political career in 1984. In the year 1977, Mayawati met Kanshi Ram and she gradually came under his patronage. After that when Kashi Ram founded the BSP in 1984, she became a part of his core team.
Political Career of Mayawati
Mayawati has reached her political success with the grassroots and it is the reason why she is also being called as the Ultimate Outsider. After the formation of BSP, Mayawati was entrusted immediately for its first election campaign from the Kairana Lok Sabha seat in the Muzaffarnagar district in 1984. She was again picked out for the Lok Sabha seats of Bijnor in 1985 and Haridwar in 1989. From Bijnor in the year 1989, Mayawati first won for the Lok Sabha elections. In 1995, she became a Chief Minister in a short-lived coalition government during her membership of the Rajya Sabha. By winning from two constituencies in 1996, Mayawati affirmed her position. In the year 1997, she was again made Chief Minister for a short period. In 2002-2003, for a pretty longer term in alignment with the Bharatiya Janata Party, Mayawati was made the Chief Minister. In 2003, Mayawati was charged of corruption by the opposition, Samajwadi Party during one of her tenures as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.
For the 4th time on 13 May 2007, Mayawati was sworn in as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. She announced agendum focusing on social justice through laws. Under the leadership of Mayawati, BSP won 205 seats out of 408 in the Uttar Pradesh state elections of 2007. BSP won an absolute majority in contrary to all the poll predictions and such majority for the first time took place since 1991.
The Bahujan Samaj Party on 6 March 2012 lost to the Samajwadi Party. Thus on 7 March 2012 Mayawati resigned from her post of chief minister.
Books on Mayawati
Many books have been published on Mayawati including her biography. One of the first works was journalist Mohammad Jamil Akhter`s book, Iron Lady Kumari Mayawati. Her autobiographies are Mere Sangarshmai Jeevan Evam Bahujan Movement Ka Safarnama in 3 volumes in Hindi, and A Travelogue of My Struggle-ridden Life and of Bahujan Samaj, in English in two volumes. Veteran journalist Ajoy Bose wrote a biography of her life named Behenji: A Political Biography of Mayawati.
In her tenures as Chief Minister, Mayawati has constructed a number of monuments to Dalit heroes like Dr B R Ambedkar, Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj, Gautama Buddha and others.