UP assembly election 2022: Mayawati heads the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)
Bahujan Samaj Party's national president Mayawati has been subdued in the run-up to this Uttar Pradesh election. The former Chief Minister addressed her first rally, in western UP, just a week before the first phase of voting in the state.
From UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who is putting up a fierce fight to keep the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in power and secure his second term, to Samajwadi Party's Akhilesh Yadav, who is making good use of farmers' perceived resentment against the BJP government, and the Congress's renewed attempt to claw back to prominence in UP, Mayawati has no shortage of opponents.
But her attacks on the Samajwadi Party and the Congress have been much more aggressive compared to her criticism of the BJP, which has fuelled speculation of an understanding between her and the BJP.
Mayawati, 65, has been Chief Minister of UP four times - 1995, 1997, 2002 and 2007. She was also a Member of Parliament, or MP.
In 1997 and in 2002, Mayawati was Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister with outside support from the BJP
Known as "behen ji" or sister by supporters, the opposition leader in India's most populous state leads a party whose stated goal is to work for "social transformation and economic emancipation" particularly of people belonging to the "Bahujan Samaj", which Mayawati's party defines as those from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes, among others.
Born on January 15, 1956, Mayawati's rise from humble beginnings was called a "miracle of democracy" by former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao.
Her intermittent stays in power have drawn both praise and criticism. Her Dalit supporters see her as an icon. The rise in her personal wealth and that of her party, however, have been criticised as indicative of corruption, the Bahujan Samaj Party, or BSP, itself says on its website.
Nevertheless, the BSP emerged as one of the main national political parties under Mayawati. In 1993, BSP founder Kanshi Ram formed a coalition with the Samajwadi Party and Mayawati became the Chief Minister in 1995, becoming the first woman Scheduled Castes Chief Minister in the country.
UP assembly election 2022: Mayawati is concentrating on the 86 reserved seats where she feels her party has a chance of doing well
In 1997 and in 2002, she was Chief Minister with outside support from the BJP, the second time only for a year till August 2003 after the BJP withdrew support.
This election, the BSP is trying to revive the old Brahmin-Dalit combination that got the party a big victory in the 2007 assembly election. Her closest aide and Rajya Sabha member SC Mishra has been put in charge of this project and has already held multiple meetings with "intellectuals" across the state.
Mayawati is concentrating on the 86 reserved seats where she feels her party has a chance of doing well. She held a big meeting recently at the Lucknow BSP office with the in-charges of these constituencies.
A setback to the BSP's chances this election has been multiple exits from her party, including top leaders like Ram Achal Rajbhar and Lalji Verma, who were once Mayawati's closest aides.