Mayawati Kumari

Infobox Politician
name = Bahen Mayawati


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office = 23rd, 24th, 30th and 32nd
Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh [ [http://www.worldstatesmen.org/India_states.html UP CM's & their terms] . Retrieved on March 30, 2007.]
term_start = June 3, 1995
term_end = October 18, 1995
March 21, 1997 – September 21, 1997
May 3, 2002 – August 29, 2003,
May 13, 2007-
predecessor = Mulayam Singh Yadav
President's rule
President's rule
Mulayam Singh Yadav
successor = President's rule
Kalyan Singh
Mulayam Singh Yadav
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birth_date = Birth date and age|1956|1|15|mf=y
birth_place = New Delhi
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party = Bahujan Samaj Party
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occupation = Politician
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Mayawati Naina Kumari (Hindi: मायावती) (born January 15, 1956) is an Indian politician and the current Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. She has been the Chief Minister on three other short-lived tenures but her party holds the absolute majority in the state on this occasion. She is the highest income tax payer among all politicians in India paying 26 crore rupees for year 2007-08. [ [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Mayawati_SRK_Sachin_among_top_taxpayers/articleshow/3319521.cms Mayawati, Shah Rukh among top taxpayers] ]

Early life

Kumari Mayawati was born in Delhi. Her father Prabhu Das was a clerk in the telecommunications department in Delhi. Her mother is Ram Rati. She graduated from Kalindi College in Delhi and holds a Bachelor of Law degree.She also holds a Bachelor of Education degree and was a teacher in Delhi (Inderpuri JJ Colony) until joining full time politics in 1984. At one point she also studied for the Indian Administrative Service examinations. However, after meeting Kanshi Ram in 1977, she gradually came under his patronage, and was part of his core team when he founded the BSP in 1984.

Political career

In 1984, Kanshi Ram founded the BSP as a party to represent the Dalits, and Mayawati was one of the key people in the new organization. In 2001, Kanshi Ram named her as his successor.

BSP was formed in April 1984, and fielded Mayawati for its first election campaignfrom the Kairana Lok Sabhaseat in the Muzaffarnagar district in 1984,and then again for the Lok Sabha seats of Bijnor in 1985 and Haridwar in 1989. [cite web
title = Profile of Kumari Mayawati, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh
publisher = Official UP Government Release
url = http://uphealth.up.nic.in/addressbook/cmsprofile.htm
accessdate = 2007-05-13] Although they did not win, the electoral experience led to considerable groundwork over the next five years, (working with Mahsood Ahmed and other organizers), and in 1989, the party won 9% of the popular vote, and 13 seats in 1989, and 11 in 1991. Because the Dalits are widely-spread over the state, Kanshi Ram and Mayawati then adopted a policy of attracting other groups, which continues today.

Kumari first won for the Lok Sabha elections in 1989 from Bijnor. In 1995, while a member of the Rajya Sabha, she became a Chief Minister in a short-lived coalition government, and validated her position by winning from two constituencies in 1996. She was again Chief Minister for a short period in 1997, and then for a somewhat longer term in coalition with the Bharatiya Janata Party from 2002 to 2003.

In 2003, during one of her tenures as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati was accused of corruption by the opposition, Samajwadi Party. The Samajwadi Party legislators presented a video cassette and a CD to the Governor of Uttar Pradesh, which they claimed showed Mayawati asking her MLAs to hand over money from their annual constituency fund towards BSP's party fund. [cite web
url=http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/mar/03up1.htm
title=Samajwadi Party claims to have on tape Mayawati demanding a 'cut'
publisher=Rediff.com
date=2003-03-04
accessdate=2007-03-30] Shortly thereafter, Mayawati got more than 140 cases filed against her bete noire and head of Samajwadi Party, Mulayam Singh Yadav, for alleged misuse of the Chief Minister's Discretionary Fund when he headed the government in 1995-96. She also got first information reports (FIRs) registered against other leaders of the Samajwadi Party.

In her tenures as Chief Minister, Mayawati has erected a number of monuments to Dalit heroes like Bhimrao Ambedkar and others also of Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj, Gautam Buddha. [ Mayavati is increasingly being seen as a threat to the traditional vote banks of the Congress particularly Dalits.She has emerged as the leader of the Third front in Indian Politics. cite news
title = Mayawati adds another 100 feet to her stature
author = Rajiv Ranjan Jha
publisher = Times of India
url = http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1120843.cms
date = 25 May 2005
accessdate = 2007-05-13]

2007 Election

Contrary to some poll predictions, BSP won a majority, the first such majority since 1991.Mayawati managed to attract support from Brahmins, Thakurs, Muslims and OBCs voted for the first time for a Dalit party, partly because BSP had offered seats to people from these communities. As usual, this was accompanied by a colourful slogan: "Haathi nahin, Ganesh hain, Brahma, Vishnu Mahesh Hain": The elephant (BSP Logo) is really the wise Ganesh, the trinity of gods rolled into one.

Chief Minister, 2007

Kumari Mayawati was sworn in as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh for the fourth time on 13 May 2007. Her announced agenda is focused on social justice through laws and other means for weaker sections, providing employment instead of distributing money to unemployed; her slogan is to make Uttar Pradesh into an Uttam (excellent) Pradesh.

Her first action was to suspend two IAS officers for non-performance to maintain the Ambedkar park in Lucknow: B.B. Singh, Vice-President (LDA), and S.K. Aggarwal (PWD Principal Sec.) and also one other lower rank officer. It is widely believed that these officers were close to the outgoing government of Mulayam Singh Yadav. [cite web
url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2009/stories/20030509004403200.htm
title=Politics of vendetta] She has transferred around 100 police officers. [Maya cracks whip [http://www.ibnlive.com/news/maya-cracks-whip-suspends-3-officers/top/40490-4.html?xml IBNlive.com] ]

She is continuing the Process of corruption clear out in UP Police Department. It is a major Crack Down on corrupted policemen and officers recruited during the previous Mulayam Singh Regime. So far 17,868 policemen has lost their jobs for irregularities in the recruitment process and 25 IPS officers were suspended for involving in corruption while recruiting the police constables. [Cite web |url=http://www.newstrackindia.com/newsdetails/1036 |title=Uttar Pradesh police recruitment scam |date=2007-10-01 |accessdate=2008-06-26 |publisher=News Track India]

She has also opened case files relating to land deals of the leading actor Amitabh Bachchan in Barabanki, who was close to the previous Samajwadi Party regime.

Since attracting the votes of upper castes, she now talks about a policy for poverty-based reservations rather than caste-based reservations. [ [http://www.ibnlive.com/news/mayawati-promises-justice-for-all/40487-4.html Mayawati promises justice for all ] ]

Alleged crimes

Taj Corridor scam

Taj Heritage Corridor case is an alleged scam wherein 2002-2003, then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Mayawati was charged with corruption. The Taj Corridor project was a project to upgrade tourist facilities near the Taj Mahal implemented during her tenure as Chief Minister. The BJP government at the Centre at that time gave the Environmental Clearance required for such project near Taj Mahal. However, later on BJP backed out and then started saying that the project is not cleared by the Environment Ministry and blamed Mayawati for starting construction work near the Taj Mahal.

Others

Misappropriation of MPLAD funds

Mayawati has also been alleged of ordering her BSP's MPs to contribute their discretion-funds and MPLAD funds to the party-fund illegally [http://www.financialexpress.com/news/MPLAD-Funds-See-78-Utilisation/85804/]

Income tax

In 2007-08 assesment year, Mayawati paid more income tax than industrialist and Forbes-listed Mukesh Ambani [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Mayawati_SRK_top_taxpayers_list/articleshow/3319521.cms] .

Mayawati is the top taxpayer among politicians and, in fact, ranks among the 20 top taxpayers in the country. In 2007-08, the Dalit leader shelled out Rs 26.26 crore as income tax, according to the I-T department’s compilation of the top 200 taxpayers’ list.

However, the CBI has alleged that the claim of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati about earning Rs 64,000 from agricultural income "does not appear to be genuine." [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Mayas_agricultural_income_not_true/articleshow/3275600.cms]

ee also

*Bahujan Samaj Party
*Taj corridor case

References

External links

* [http://164.100.24.167:8080/members/website/Biodata.asp?no=1511 Official biodata]
* [http://www.island.lk/2008/07/24/world1.html After Nuclear vote]