Truth vs Hype: Mayawati - Anatomy of a Rally

Preparations for a Mayawati rally begin a few days in advance. The stage here is being set for her first leg of campaign in Barabanki and Sitapur. Rallies are a show of strength for the BSP and ensuring a good turnout is the responsibility of the local candidates.

While paeans penned to Mayawati on Bollywood numbers sing aloud her achievements, the reality on ground is not exactly the same.

At the Kanshiram Shahri Garib Avas Yojana unit in Barabanki, the living conditions might not be ideal with small, dingy houses but for most slum dwelling inhabitants like this man, a permanent roof is clearly a boon.

Ambedkar Villages are another of Mayawati's pet schemes. In one such village at Mulayampur, a girl shows the bicycle she received for passing High school. While the village is entitled to many more benefits, in reality very few changes have taken place.

A pucca toilet in another Ambedkar village of Peepri, has been one of the highlights of this project. Peepri is one of the poorest villages in the area but now has pucca houses, electricity, handpumps amongst others.

Villagers in Peepri board the bus which will take them to the rally venue in Sitapur. The bus is arranged and paid for by the local party worker.

The footfall at the rally ground began since morning and continued even towards the end of the rally.

The media, local, national as well as some international, too turned up in full strength to witness the grand spectacle of a Mayawati rally.

Women who turned up in large numbers wait in anticipation for Mayawati's arrival.

Though her arrival created a flutter in the crowd, her uninspiring speech managed to put many to sleep.

While her term as CM is marred with charges of inefficiency and corruption, for the Dalits she has meant an empowering voice of their own which has led to a change in the attitude of other communities towards them.