Monumental Obsession of Mayawati.....

Mayawati  sworn in as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh State of Indis for the fourth time on 13 May 2007 announced an agenda that focused on providing social justice to the weaker sections of society and providing employment instead of distributing money to the unemployed. Her slogan was to make "Uttar Pradesh" ("Northern Province") into "Uttam Pradesh" ("Excellent Province")

 Her 2007 election campaign was accompanied by a colourful slogan: Haathi nahin, Ganesh hain, Brahma, Vishnu Mahesh Hain: "The elephant (BSP Logo) is really the Lord Ganesha, the trinity of gods rolled into one". Her new slogan invited everyone, including the higher castes, to "come ride the elephant", her party's election symbol.Mayawati's rise from humble beginnings has been called a "miracle of democracy" by P. V. Narasimha Rao, former Prime Minister of India .

A Dalit woman , known for her birthdays which are major media events, where she appears laden with diamonds, her birthdays declared as Jan Kalyankari Diwas (People's Welfare Day). In 2009 the day was marked by the announcement of welfare schemes targeted towards poor and downtrodden people of the state.Her  disproportionate  assets to her known source of income run into millions of dollars, with several properties to her name. In the 2007–08 assessment year, Mayawati;s ranking was among the top 20 taxpayers in the country

  Mayawati  often referred to as Behen-ji, which means 'sister',to me she appears to be a self obsessed woman or either she is suffering from some kind of OCD.In one of her interviews she is believed to have said "  that she has no time for family life or romantic relationships because she wants to focus on her political career and this is why she remains unmarried ' and i do belive her but her marriage  and romance to her obsession of erecting statues which she probably  forgot to mention is known to every one .In. In her tenures as a Chief Minister, Mayawati erected number of statues and her claims that the expenditure on statues and symbols of Dalit Icons was required because the past governments did not show respect towards Dalit icons, in whose memory nothing was ever built sound bizarre to me. She exp of over Rs 2,500 crore on projects of five parks and memorials  in Lucknow between 2007 and 2009. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India reported that Rs. 15 Crore was spent on memorials. In October 2011 Mayawati inaugurated the Rashtriya Dalit Prerna Sthal and Green Garden, built at a cost of  685 crores. The  memorial also features her own statues, a sheer waste the tax-payers' money but he BSP dismissal of allegations is quite understandable, but the explaination 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. " is quite emotional. 

 Her obsession does confirm middle-class Indians’ worst fears about her as megalomaniac and venal. But among many dalit voters, unapologetic ostentation is part of her appeal, and the statue scandal may actually play to her advantage. “The more she’s demonised by the chattering classes,” says her biographer, Ajay Bose, “the more popular among dalit voters she becomes…although it would be good if she did something more useful for her constituency too.” Statues of o a stout woman clutching a handbag, sometimes surrounded by elephants, dot Lucknow, capital of Uttar Pradesh (UP).. Does she ever realise that the amt spent on these statues and memorials which is more than $500m , during her four stints as chief minister, could have been put to better use for up bringing Dalits or is her self obsession instincts too dominent on her wisdom or she thinks her eventual goal  to gain power in the centre will come through her statue riding an elephant. 

Col Muammer Gaddafi and Women

Emotions have played a strong role in lives of people who are known for their ruthless regime and one of them is Maummar Gadaffi ,whose reputation was maligned towards the end of his regime ,but we can not ignore the fact that Libyan Colonel Muammer Gaddafi took good care of women , not only he supported them but also believed in their abilities and emancipation and that too in a society where women are not fully appreciated.Several steps were taken to improve the situation of women during his regime ,which was  a result of his promise to his mother ,who couldnot read or write and was born when Libiya was an Italian colony .The Jamahiriya govt made an effort to advance female emancipation.Women were encouraged to participate in Libyas political life and several posts were allocated to them.Working women enjoyed a range of benefits designed to continue workin even after marriage and child birth During the last decade of King Idris’ rule, females enrolled in primary education were only between 11-19%. However, in 1969, education was made a right. And by 1990, the figure stood at 48%. Women’s enrollment in higher education stood at 8% in 1966, but reached 43% by 1996, equal to that of males.Apart from education and employment , several other reforms were made to improve their lives.Under Jamahiriya government child marriages were banned and the minimum legal age to marry placed at 18. Since 1973, Libyan women have had equal rights in obtaining a divorce. There were also gender-friendly women’s laws passed on marriage and divorce.Gaddafi forbade restricting women’s mobility.Unlike several other  Arab countries,a woman was allowed to drive and hold her passport which enabled her to travel outside of the country without her husbands permission .Nor could women be forced in a marriage and enjoyed  the freedom totleave the marriage at her will.Imams were expected to protect women from abuse.A women brigade we witnessed,who were willing to die for him was a result of his delibrate effort towards upliftment of women and certainly not his power.





photograph courtesy the guardian.co.uk

ADVANIS AIR CONDITIONED BUS YATRA (journey by bus)

Advani became a member of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, which was founded in 1951 by Shyama Prasad Mukherjee. After serving various positions in the Jana Sangh, he became its President in 1975. When Jai Prakash Narayan, who led the public movement against the Emergency refused to campaign for the opposition parties unless all of them joined together, the Jana Sangh and many other opposition parties merged into the Janata Party. With the dissolution of Jana Sangh, Advani and his colleague Atal Bihari Vajpayee joined the Janata Party to fight the Lok Sabha Elections of 1977

These days in news for his Rath Yatra ,in real terms an Air Conditioned Bus Yatra , to lure the vote bank is doing rounds .At times i wonder how many of us are still gullible to get carried away by these emotional politcs ?The desire to become the PM of India  ,still simmering in his heart,  it seems.Though we the people, of this coutry are looking for a change from these haggered politics,but little do they understand that people are no more unaware and can see through their manipulative ways of politics.The memories of Advani's rath yatra to Babri Masjid is still fresh in my mind,i doubt i will ever be able to forget the blood shed by some Hindus driven by Hindu fanatic  leaders like him and organisations like RSS. For me the waving a flag on Babri Masjid was never a moment of triumph but a moment of shame, a momet of disgust and helplessness, that being a normal citizen i could not have taken law and order in my hand and dealt with these  people who man slaughtered  several innocent people to achieve power and rule the country.This old man Mr Advani ,who is on his last leg does not seem to have a trace of shame or repentance of his deeds.