Will Mayawati hold on in 2012 UP Elections?

After erecting massive statues of herself all over UP and that issue about garlands Mayawati now proceeds to use her security men as a tabalchi - a name for shoe cleaners and menders in the Army during the British Raj.

It may have been going on for some time now but this act was caught on camera yesterday. Yes, that is what it is, prior to rally, Mayawati has been caught on camera clearly pointing to her footwear, the effect of which is that the Deputy Superintendent of Police rushes to her, produces a piece of cloth and then proceeds to clean her sandals. Sigh! wish we could have such loyal DSP's for ourselves, but we don't because well.. I don't know. Here's the video showing the security officer cleaning Mayawati's shoes.

This at a time when there are serious issues being raised about Mayawati's government (at least at the national level - people who are out of her spell... if that is what she has cast on the people of UP) and well one has to wonder really if all of this will make an impact on Mayawati's and her party BSP's chances of winning the 2012 elections in UP.

First there was the Banda rape case, where an MLA of her party had raped a minor Dalit girl and then had the local police imprison the girl on charges of theft. Only when the national media got whiff of this and played the story continuously did Mayawati eventually wake up, a case of rape was registered and the MLA was sent to the lockup, however the girl only came out after spending 30 days in jail. Where else in the world would you find such a thing - a politician rapes a girl, the girl goes to the police to register an FIR but the police charges her wrongly with theft and throw her into jail? I guess only in B grade Bollywood movie scripts and dictatorships in very very backward countries in Africa is the answer. - No comment throughout from Mayawati.

The rapist MLA who even swore revenge on camera

Then we found out that a girl in UP has accused a BSP MLA of murdering her father. The MLA smiling to the cameras used the tried and tested "charge is politically motivated" while a stupid grin was pasted on his face. - No comment throughout from Mayawati.

Another MLA was just a while ago accused of kidnap too. - No comment throughout from Mayawati.

And just a few days ago a girl of 16 who was also a Dalit accused some men of trying to rape her, when she had resisted, they maimed her. - No comment and no visit throughout from Mayawati.

Yes, Mayawati with her social engineering has managed to capture the people's imagination for some time now but will all of these incidents which have just happened one year before the elections raise the voter's ire beyond the tipping point? It definitely should but some feel that Mayawati enjoys the support of people of UP of the kind that Narrendra Modi enjoys from the people of Gujarat. I don't think that is the case however, while Gujarat has continued to prosper and as neighboring Bihar races ahead, UP has been stuck in a complete godforsaken rut.

In fact it has been stuck in a rut since it was Congress's bastion. People of UP are forced to migrate elsewhere and look for livelihoods, build cities and towns by toiling behind the scenes for years and what do they get in return? Ridicule and sometimes the ire of people from other states for actually no fault of their own. It is governments like that of BSP, Mayawati, Lalu Yadav, Paswan's and  Mulayam Singh Yadavs of India which forces UP's people to have to take the brunt of other people's illogical and ungrateful ire and ridicule.

It is in fact because of this rut which UP was stuck in even after 20 years after Independence that the people of UP allowed their loyalties to sway from the Congress party. I think the same will cause them to sway once more. This along with anti incumbency and the collapse of law and order should be enough for the voter, Dalit or otherwise to press a button other than the Elephant when he goes to vote in the 2012 assembly elections. 

Now of course one reason for Mayawati's dominance of politics in UP has been a lack of formidable opponents. Samajwadi party's politics is even pettier than the politics of Mayawati and Congress and BJP have no major superstars amongst their ranks who come from UP. Never the less, let us hope that people ignore this and take a clue from their neighbors. Here's to hoping they bury Mayawati 6 feet under politically in Lalu prasad land.