Mayawati

Born On: 15 January 1956
Born In: New Delhi
Career: Politics

Mayawati is the youngest women chief minister in India as well as the first woman Dalit Chief Minister of India. Having been elected four times as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, this woman has power, and all the baggage that comes with power, on her plate. Although her career orbits around politics today, this is not how she started her professional life. She started her career as a schoolteacher, but was extremely influenced by Kanshi Ram's ideologies and his activities. Initially, she was drawn to his work and eventually entered politics with him. Her political history has been quite victorious and even after losing in the 2003 elections, she regained her power in the 2007 elections. She currently holds the seat of Chief Minister in Uttar Pradesh, represents the Bahujan Samaj Party, and is fondly dubbed as "behenji" by her followers. Keep reading to know more about her life and works.

Early Life
Mayawati aka Chandawati Devi was born in the year 1956 in Delhi. She was born to Ram Rati and Prabhu Das. Prabhu was a clerk in the department of telecommunications. She had six brothers. She completed her Bachelor's degree in arts from Kalindi College and thereafter, went on to complete her LLB and B.Ed. from Delhi University. Her father wanted her to be a collector and therefore she spent a substantial amount of time preparing for the administrative service exam. Meanwhile, she entered teaching. Her father evidently was not happy with the influence of Kanshi Ram in her life and tried to convince her not to follow his footsteps. However, Mayawati did not listen to him and in her 20's got involved in a major way in the works and projects that Kanshi Ram initiated.

Career
Mayawati pursued her teaching career uptil 1984. She was highly influenced by the works and ventures of Kanshi Ram and went into a drastic career change in the year 1984 when Kanshi Ram formed his political party - Bahujan Samaj Party. She became a full time party member after quitting her teacher's job. In the same year, she stood for the first election campaign from the Kairana Lok Sabha seat in the district of Muzaffarnagar. Again, in the year 1985 and 1987, they campaigned for the Lok Sabha seats and eventually in 1989 the party won 13 seats. In 1995, she became the youngest chief minister of Uttar Pradesh in the coalition government. It was in 2001 that Kanshi Ram declared Mayawati as his successor as the head of the Party. She was elected as the Chief Minister again from 2002 to 2003 in the coalition of Bhartiya Janta Party. However, after this tenure, Mulayam Singh Yadav, who represented B.J.P. and Mayawati became severe rivals following which the B.J.P withdrew their support from her and Mulayam Singh Yadav became the Chief Minister. Meanwhile, a documentary stating 100 frauds of Mayawati (as a representative of B.S.P.) in a visual representation was released by B.J.P. However, Mayawati regained power in the year 2007, and continues to hold the mantle of India's largest state. However, the rule of B.S.P. could not go further than U.P. under the rule of Mayawati, because most O.B.C's withdrew their support from her because of her autocratic style of ruling. During her tenure, she is said to have erected numerous statues in honor of Dalits and Buddhism.

Contribution To Politics
Although many like to debate on it, Mayawati is said to have done a great service to the Dalits of this country and more importantly Uttar Pradesh, and has been their moral support and role model. No matter how debatable this statement is, her supporters have proved their loyalty towards her time and again. She has created such a position and trust for herself among the Dalits that it is almost certain that they will not abandon her, at least not in the near future.

Timeline

1956: Was born in Delhi.
1977: Entered the profession of teaching.
1984: Gave up teaching and joined B.S.P. and stood for the first election campaign for the Kairana Lok Sabha.
1989: Won the first of 13 seats in Lok Sabha.
1995: Became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.
1997: Re-elected as the Chief Minister.
2001: Declared as the successor of Kanshi Ram.
2002: Re-elected as the Chief Minister.
2007: Re-elected as the Chief Minister.