Lucknow:
Mayawati is not at a high point in her political career. Seven months ago, her defeat in the elections in Uttar Pradesh was so pronounced that it was rude. But at her rally in Lucknow today, the first since being dismissed as chief minister, she was in unflinching comeback mode.
The rally had the usual trappings of a Mayawati show - an audience of nearly 4 lakhs, a massive stage with a huge picture of her in the background, and a vitriolic attack on Mulayam Singh Yadav, her political rival, whose son, Akhilesh, is now the chief minister of UP.
For the ruling coalition at the centre, she offered hope, stating that though she is opposed to reforms in retail, she is willing to be convinced of its merits. It was the decision to open up India to foreign mega-chains like Wal-Mart that cost the Prime Minister his biggest ally, Mamata Banerjee. Last month,she pulled her Trinamool Congress out of his coalition, reducing the government to a minority. To remain in power, the coalition needs the external support of both Mayawati and Mulayam. So far, neither has wavered.
The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said, "The Centre's decision to allow FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) in multi-brand retail will prove to be detrimental for the local economy. But the centre has a different opinion. If the decision to allow FDI benefits the farmers, small businessmen and ordinary , the BSP may in future support the decision. But in the present situation, without seeing the effects of this decision, our party will not support FDI."
Just in case the government takes her for granted, she warned that she does not expect it to last its term till 2014, and said she has told her party workers to gear up for an early election. She said a meeting of her senior party leaders tomorrow will decide whether to support the UPA, and for the Congress, which leads that coalition, she jibed, "You must not get swayed by UPA's dynasty politics, otherwise the UPA government will come to power again and you will face anti-people policies. If any of my relatives tries for tickets from our party or any other party, then I will break off all relations with them. We must not promote family politics so that our party's movement can go forward with missionary zeal."
There were more jibes as she castigated the Congress-ruled UPA for being, she said, "anti-Dalit" and "anti-poor." One at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh when she said, "It saddens me to see that instead of understanding the problems of the middle class and poorer sections of the population, the Centre says money doesn't grow on trees." The reference was to Dr Singh's address to the nation last month when he explained why tough economic times demanded tough reform measures like reducing subsidy on fuel and allowing FDI in retail. Dr Singh had said in a 15-minute address to tghe nation last month, "Subsidies on fuel are very large, though, and the subsidy bill would have shot up to more than 2 lakh crores. Where will we find the money for this? Money does not grow on trees."
But for all her attacks on the Centre, for Mayawati, there is a great deal to be gained from ensuring the government does not collapse just yet. She needs time to rebuild her support base in a state that grabbed its chance to punish her for running an administration lurid with corruption. She herself was seen as arrogant and disengaged. Today, she reached out repeatedly to the Dalits, once a loyal votebank. Akhilesh and Mulayam Singh Yadav, she said, were so against Dalit empowerment that they cancelled the holiday she had instituted to commemorate the death anniversary of Dalit leader, Kanshi Ram, who was her mentor.
In large parks around Lucknow, crores were spent by her on oversized statues of Kanshi Ram and herself, along with Dalit icon Dr BR Ambedkar, who led the committee that drafted the constitution. "The state government has not only broken my statue but also a dozen statues of Dr BR Ambedkar. If it weren't for Dr Ambedkar you would have seen Mulayam Singh and family members handling the buffaloes of an upper caste person," she said.
Few can accuse Mayawati of subtlety, or of inhibitions about personal attacks. The political agenda of her hour-long speech centred less on her own plans, and more on what her rivals have done wrong. She said that since his sweeping victory, Akhilesh, who is 39, had failed to improve the law and order in Uttar Pradesh, or tackle corruption."Everyone knows that during our government's time our policies were based on inclusiveness to allow entire society to benefit from it. But the Samajwadi Party hasn't done anything for Muslims in the state," she said.
"In six months my prediction, that people would regret voting for the Samajwadi Party , has come true. People are scared about their sisters and wives stepping out even during the day due to lawlessness. Uttar Pradesh has now become 'Crime Pradesh'," she said.
32-year-old Sandeep Ketkar, a Mumbai based lawyer came for the Mayawati's rally by train with 1000 others to listen to her. " From today we have all vowed that we will work hard to make sure Behenji will become the next Prime Minister..... I know there is still time for the elections but we want her to lead the country," he said.