POLITICIAN
NAME: Mayawati Prabhu Das.
DATE OF BIRTH: 15th January,1956.
PLACE OF BIRTH: Delhi, India.
PARENTS: Ram Rati (mother); Prabhu Das (father).
SIBLINGS: Eight.
MARITAL STATUS: Unmarried.
CHILDREN: None.
POLITICAL PARTY: Bahujan Samaj Party.
OTHER NAMES: Behenji.
COLLEGE(s):
- Kalindi College, University of Delhi
- Meerut University
DESIGNATION:
- President of Bahujan Samaj Party.
- Member of Parliament of Rajya Sabha
FOUNDED:
Gautam Buddha University,2008
BOOKS:
- Iron Lady Kumari Mayawati by Mohd. Jamil Akhter
- Autobiography “Mere Sangarsh mai Jeevan Evam Bahujan Movement Ka Safarnama.”
- A Travelouge of My Stuggle-ridden Life and of Bahujan Samaj.
- Behenji: A Political Biography.
AWARDS:
- Paul Harris Fellow award by UNICEF, World Health Organisation and Rotary International for her initiative in Polio eradication.
- Rajarshi Shahu Award by Rajarshi Shahu Memorable trust.
FOUNDED:
Gautam Buddha University,2008
Mayawati born is a Political leader, Bahujan Samaj Party President and four-times former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.
She joined Bahujan Samaj Party at its inception in 1984 and devoted her towards upliftment of Bahujans or Dalits along with other religious minorities and backward classes.
Mayawati in her earlier days was motivated by Kanshi Ram (founder of BSP), her influencing personality brought her upfront to public and received support of her people.
First attempt to win a seat in Lok Sabha in 1985 was a failure, her next attempt in 1987 was unsuccessful too but she was elected to the chamber in 1989 from constituency in Uttar Pradesh.
Mayawati’s greatest mark was in 1995 when she was elected as chief minister for the first time with the support of BJP but could not complete her term, with many short-lived attempts of 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2007, Mayawati finally became chief minister of Uttar Pradesh in 2007 with majority of 206 seats making her first-ever Dalit woman in India to serve as the chief minister in the state of Uttar Pradesh.[1]
Mayawati was acknowledged as political successor and the sole heir of Kanshi Ram and Bahujan Movement on 15th December, 2001 later became the president of Bahujan Samaj Party. In 2012 after becoming the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh for the fourth time she is now serving as a Rajya Sabha member in Parliament.
LEGAL BACKGROUND.
Despite her contribution and services towards the Uttar Pradesh government there were few controversies which later became to be the highlights of her political career.
TAJ HERITAGE CORRIDOR CASE.[2]
In 2002, the Central Bureau of Investigation raided Mayawati suspecting financial irregularities in project related to the Taj Heritage Corridor.
The Taj Heritage Corridor was a project commissioned in 2002, during Mayawati’s government.
The project would to build an ecologically sound corridor between the Agra fort and the Taj Mahal – both World Heritage sites. It would also link several other monuments in the area – Ram Bagh, Etmatuddaula and Chinni-ka-Roza. This meant one could visit all these monuments in one go.
The amount sanctioned for the project was Rs. 175 crores, while Rs. 17 crores were released for the preparation of a project report by an agency that was handpicked by the government. Tenders were not issued.
In 2007 the governor T.V. Rajeshwar declared no evidence against her due to which the Supreme Court rejected CBI’s plea in this matter and agree to prosecute Mayawati.
CBI later filed a case against her possession of disproportionate assets, which were defended and claimed as gifts and contributions by her party. The appeal was dismissed. There are no evidences against her till date.
MAYAWATI V. MARKANDEYA CHAND AND OTHERS.[3]
Tenth Schedule of the Constitution (better known as the anti-defection law) for having defected from their party. These members were elected on a Janata Dal (United) ticket.
The Madras High Court also heard petitions filed by 18 MLAs who were disqualified by the Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Assembly in September 2017 under the anti-defection law. Allegations of legislators defecting in violation of the law have been made in several other states including Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Manipur, Nagaland, Telangana and Uttarakhand in recent years.
Justice Srinivasan J said: These determinations of importance, in my view, are necessary to be made before the matter can be examined as to the perversity or otherwise of the Speaker’s decision, obligating him at a point of time to record categorically when the split took place thereby pinning the time of such split. I opine therefore that the matter be referred to the Constitution Bench for decision.
CAKE CONTROVERSY[4]
Mayawati’s 63rd birthday celebration in Amroha turned into a spectacle when her supporters tried to grab a piece of the cake.
In the video, a large group of her supporters can be seen trying to get a piece of the giant cake that was placed on the centre table. In the video, which later went viral, the organisers can be heard shouting and requesting the people to maintain calm, but the chaos continued.
The video garnered negative reactions on twitter, Mayawati responded by saying “If some casteist and anti-Dalit section of media has a problem with that then let it be. Our party doesn’t care”.
Mayawati attacked the BJP and said that it was a malicious bid by the saffron party to malign the BSP. Branding BJP as anti-Dalit Mayawati lashed out at the Centre and said that the party was afraid of the SP-BSP alliance.
THE GUEST HOUSE SCANDLE OF 1995.[5]
The ‘guest house incident’ refers to the events that took place on June 2, 1995, when Mayawati announced snapping of ties with the SP, thus reducing the Mulayam Singh Yadav led government to a minority.
Angry SP workers then cornered her at the Meerabai guest house in Lucknow, where she was staying even as her party workers fled from there.
The situation was brought under control after direct intervention from the Governor’s House as well as the central government. The late BJP MLA Brahm Dutt Dwivedi is widely credited with saving her life.
The ghost of guest house still haunts Mayawati, which has led her to build ties with her party’s sworn enemy Samajwadi Party after being pushed into a fight for survival by the BJP.
Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati has withdrawn the infamous 1995 guest house scandal case against former Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.
The incident had soured relations between the two parties until they joined hands and enter into alliance for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Bahujan Monuments.[6]
In the tenure as a chief minister of Uttar Pradesh Mayawati spent lavishly on monuments depicting her Bahujan Samaj claiming that the expenditure is a must as government do not show any respect towards leaders of her community.
The expense made was a whopping amount between 25-60 billion rupees, it was later reported to be rupees 66 crores by the Comptroller and auditor general of India. Despite stay orders from the Supreme Court BSP inaugurated Rashtriya Dalit Prerna Sthal and Green Garden in October of 2011.
Indian National Congress accused her to waste the Tax payers money, this allegation was dismissed stating that her statues were erected because Kanshi Ram’s will requested that his statues should be constructed next to those of the current President of BSP.
WORLD BANK CRITICISM.[7]
In 2002, the World Bank sent a letter of complaint to the Central government stating “We have now learnt that project managers have been replaced within three weeks of assuming office.
The project coordinator of the Diversified Agriculture Support Project has been changed twice in quick succession and at the moment there is no project coordinator.
In the forestry project, numerous changes have been made over past six months. Such developments do not augur well for these time-bound projects that require consistently good leadership.” Which was the result of Mayawati Government’s alteration to the master plan of utilising the funds for development in UP which put the projects behind schedule.
Mayawati got her way out by saying there was a misunderstanding or the letter of complaint was fake. Despite the amendments made by her, World Bank still continues to criticize the level of corruption in the country.
- Behenji- A political biography. ↑
- Taj heritage corridor scam 2002-2003. ↑
- October 09, 1998 supreme court. ↑
- January 15th, 2020. ↑
- June 01st,1995. ↑
- Dalit Park: Boon or bane by rana, pratika. ↑
- The times of India. ↑
Research By- Vartika Johri
|
|
|