A Change for the Good: Maya sworn in
Sunday, May 13, 2007 (08:27:54)
Posted by Imran
Ending a 14-year era of coalition government in the politically-turbulent state of Uttar Pradesh in a historic win, BSP supremo Mayawati was sworn in as the 40th Chief Minister of the state on Sunday. Taking oath in the lawns of Raj Bhawan in Lucknow, Mayawati was invited by Governor T V Rajeshwar to form the government on Saturday.
The oath – taken at 1300 hrs (IST) – makes Mayawati the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh for a record fourth time within a period of 12 years starting 1995. On Saturday, the BSP supremo – whose party single-handedly wiped out the rivals including the in(edited)bent Samajwadi Party – drove to Raj Bhawan and gave a letter to the Governor seeking that she be invited to form the government. Rajeshwar immediately extended the invitation. The formality of electing her BSP legislature party leader was done at the party's headquarters in Lucknow’s Mall Avenue on Saturday itself.
Mayawati’s name for the CM’s post was proposed by former minister Indrajit Saroj and seconded by BSP state chief Lalji Verma. Within five minutes, 204 out of 206 legislators - who were present at the meeting – agreed the proposal. The remaining two legislators could not reach Lucknow on time. Interestingly, party MLCs - who are normally part of legislature party meetings - were not invited. Another first was that Mayawati allowed the media to witness the election proceedings. Along with Mayawati, 12 elected MLAs also took the oath. They include Nasimuddin Siddiqui, Inderjit Saroj, Sukhdev Rajbhar.
Maya’s magic mix:
Belying all speculation of a hung assembly, the BSP trampled all its political opponents to emerge as a formidable political entity. When all others were entering into alliances and seat adjustments, Mayawati fought Assembly elections single-handedly and without as much as a manifesto to decimate her opponents. She sewed the social fabric of Uttar Pradesh together and went out of her way this time to make sure that Brahmins and upper castes were on her side, along with her permanent votebank - the Dalits - and the strategy seems to have reaped rich dividends for BSP supremo Mayawati. Casting aside her 'anti-Manuvadi' stance - which used to be her pet theme against upper castes - Mayawati ensured substantial number of tickets to Brahmins and also others while keeping her Dalit votebank intact. Declaring that the BSP was no longer “merely a Dalit outfitâ€ÂÂ, Mayawati thanked the upper caste for overwhelming faith in the ideologies and policies of the party.
Humble antecedents:
The 51-year-old daughter of a humble government employee from western Uttar Pradesh stitched a winning coalition of Dalits, Upper castes, Muslims and Backwards in a bold new experiment to get an absolute majority in the elections.
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