From hushed tones to shrill voices, Mayawati faces rebellion

Lucknow, Feb 5 (IANS) Rocked by successive electoral reverses, four-time Uttar Pradesh chief minister and BSP leader Mayawati is battling a never-before revolt in the party.

Close aides are deserting her and crossing over to rivals, mainly the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Some have been expelled for "indiscipline", a political euphemism for intending party hoppers. In less than two months, two senior leaders - Jugul Kishore, a Rajya Sabha MP, and former state minister Daddu Prasad - have spewed venom on Mayawati.

They accused her of being dictatorial, greedy and egoistic before quitting the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

Until some months ago, Mayawati's word was the law in the party. It seems it is no more so. While many point out that the discontent was simmering, pundits are surprised at the vocal rebellion against Mayawati.

BSP's founder-member and one-time close aide Jugul Kishore last month accused her of amassing ill-gotten money, taking money from candidates to let them fight elections.

For a long time, Kishore was a close aide of Mayawati and a part of her "kitchen cabinet". He was also seen as one of the BSP's best organizers.

Her former cabinet colleague Daddu Prasad also trained his guns on the party boss, leading to his expulsion.

While Jugul Kishore and Daddu Prasad have rebelled, the former's wife and son have joined the BJP.

A BSP legislator, Har Govind Singh, has also joined the BJP. And so has Brij Lal, a former director general of police. Former MP Ganga Charan Rajput is set to follow.

Kishore says more than 60 legislators would leave the BSP when assembly elections are announced in Uttar Pradesh in 2017.

Legislator Balaprasad Awasthi and former MP Goraknath Pandey rebelled last year. So did Rakesh Dhar Tripathi, Shahid Aklaq and Kanwar Hassan -- all three political lightweights.

Mayawati rose from humble beginnings when she was spotted by BSP's founder leader Kanshi Ram at a Delhi political rally. Asked what she wanted to do in life, she said she desired to become an IAS officer.

Kanshi Ram, apparently seeing some spark in her, retorted that he will ensure that hundreds of IAS officers one day queue up in front of her.

She twice formed a government in Uttar Pradesh with BJP as her ally but never completed her term. Earlier, she had teamed up with the Samajwadi Party, leading to a bitter divorce.

A state BSP leader admitted that Mayawati has the daunting task of preventing further cracks in the party.

The BSP failed to win even one of the 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh in the 2014 Lok Sabha battle.

In the earlier assembly election, its tally slipped to 80 from 200-plus, at the end of its five-year term in Uttar Pradesh.

BSP-backed independents have also lost all by-elections. The BSP's forays in Jharkhand, Haryana and Maharashtra polls came a cropper.

Mayawati's so-called captive Dalit vote bank has shrunk drastically in other states too, including Delhi. Her rallies now attract fewer crowds, in contrast to the times when she would be heard by tens of thousands.

One detractor said that Mayawati could no more be described as a "Dalit ki beti" (A daughter of Dalits). "Instead, she is now daulat (wealth) ki beti."