Ummid Assistant

Applications open for Manmohan scholarship at Cambridge

Opportunities for Indian students in US

Welcome Guest! You are here: Home » Special Reports

Has Mayawati mellowed at 57?

Tuesday January 15, 2013 07:37:28 PM, Mohit Dubey, IANS

Lucknow: No multi-crore currency note garlands, no multi-tiered cakes, no pomp and show... Has a spell out of power mellowed firebrand BSP supremo Mayawati? If the low-key celebrations Tuesday on her 57th birthday are any indication, 'Behenji' is now a changed person and so admit her close aides.

Dethroned by arch rival, the Samajwadi Party (SP) and with more than four of her ministers on the run from law enforcement agencies on different charges, senior Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leaders point out that a "personality change" for the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister was need of the hour, especially with a hostile regime and chances to recapture power "a good four years away".

Noting that the mercurial leader had realized that she had been cut off from the very people who brought her to power, a senior BSP legislator told IANS that in the last eight months, 'Behenji' (as Mayawati is known) had fallen back on the "traditional" mechanism of calling party faithful and office bearers on phone early morning.

This system was discontinued in her last stint as chief minister when "feedback" was largely left to a set of favoured bureaucrats. She is now particular to keep in touch with party rank and file and grants an audience "much easier than before", a functionary from Bithoor (Kanpur) told IANS.

Her interactions with media have also increased and in the first fortnight of 2013 alone, she has spoken to the local media thrice and hosted them for lunch. On one of the occasions, she stayed back for lunch and held informal chats with media persons - something new to most journalists who have been ignored by her earlier.

Talking to IANS some time back, Mayawati had admitted of "some gaps" and assured that "this would be bridged now and she would be available".

Less ostentation seems part of the new approach.

Celebration of her birthday in New Delhi and to keep it a low-key affair was a "personal decision" for Mayawati, said a senior party leader who clarified that the party units were however celebrating her birthday in various districts of Uttar Pradesh "as per their own faith and love for the leader".

Barring a full page advertisement by mafia-don-turned-politician Dhananjay Singh, a legislator from Jaunpur Sadar, the birthday celebrations in Uttar Pradesh were largely muted. Missing was Mayawati, wearing heavy diamond jewellery and cutting a many-decked cake.

The BSP supremo, a close aide said, spent her birthday quietly with her brother Anand, his wife and relatives at her New Delhi home. She also met some senior party leaders and took telephone calls.

In Uttar Pradesh, party leaders were asked to hold meetings and apprise the supporters of the "anti-Dalit" actions of the Akhilesh Yadav government, and senior party leaders tasked to interact with the media for the same purpose.

In Lucknow, Mayawati confidante and former minister Naseemuddin Siddiqui was the chief guest at a function held by the district unit at Jyotiba Phule Park which has been specially decorated for the day.

Maywawati's change of tack in celebrating her birthday as also in her interactions with party workers and media, many feel, was not only calculated but also essential if she wanted a "national role" for her post 2014 Lok Sabha polls.



(Mohit Dubey can be contacted at mohit.d@ians.in)


 

 

 

 

 




 

Home | Top of the Page

Comments

Note: By posting your comments here you agree to the terms and conditions of www.ummid.com

Comments powered by DISQUS

i

I

More Headlines

30 days that bound a nation - in shame and concern

Indian farmers better than scientists: Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz

Afghanistan's oldest woman, 136, dies

Chavan visits Dhule, announces judicial enquiry into Dhule riots

Supreme Court orders Pakistan PM's arrest

Military train derails in Egypt; 15 killed, 103 injured

Britain launches milkshake that helps fight Alzheimer's

7-year-old girl raped in school toilet in Goa

Animal sacrifice: Prohibitory orders clamped in Odisha village

 

Top Stories

Chavan announces judicial enquiry into Dhule riots

More than a week after riot broke out in this North Maharashtra city, state Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Tuesday announced a judicial enquiry into the Dhule riot by a retired  »

It was a police action, not riot: Maharashtra legislator

Dhule Riots: Now Dy Mayor, Muslim councilors threaten to resign

Upset by son's death in Dhule firing, Dy Tahsildar to resign from post

 

  Most Read

Supreme Court orders Pakistan PM's arrest

The apex court ordered the prime minister's arrest along with 16 others during the hearing on a power rental case. The court also ordered that the arrested people be produced before it later Tuesday, Online new  »

Swami Kamlananda jailed for hate speech

The president of Hindu Devalaya Parirakshana Samithi, a committee fighting for protection of Hindu temples, has been charged with promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, language and doing acts prejudicial to  »

Owaisi gets jail for 14 days, pulled up by judge

 

  News Pick

India lodges strong protest at flag meeting

Won’t remain passive when attacked, says Army chief

India Monday took a tough stance against Pakistan over the killing and mutilation of two of its soldiers with its army chief asserting that his forces  »

India concerned at South Africa suspending buffalo meat imports

India Monday voiced concern to South Africa at the suspension of frozen boneless buffalo meat imports from the country. Commerce Minister Anand Sharma told South African Minister of Trade and Industry, Rob Davies,  »

European media: From India shining to India tarnished

The dire situation of Indian women is now under the spotlight in European media and daily incidents of violence are being reported with alacrity along with statistics and analyses to show India's disastrous record in ensuring women's rights.  »

Dilip-Saira return after performing Umrah, want to do Haj together

Saira Banu is extremely joyous after performing Umrah in Saudi Arabia with her husband and Bollywood thespian Dilip Kumar and says now she wishes they get an opportunity to go for Haj  »

 

Picture of the Day

President Pranab Mukherjee, Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for Minority Affairs K. Rahman Khan and other dignitaries at the release of the Commemorative Postage Stamp on Shaikhul Hind’s “Silk Letter Movement” & 60th Session of Shaikhul Hind’s Silk Letter Movement Centenary, in New Delhi on January 11, 2013.

 

Recommend the story to your friends

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

RSS  |  Contact us

 

| Quick links

News

 

Subscribe to

Ummid Assistant

 

National

Science & Technology

RSS

Scholarships

About us

International

Health

Twitter

Government Schemes

Feedback

Regional

History

Facebook

Education

Register

Politics

Opinion

Newsletter

Contact us

Business

The Funny Side

Education & Career

     

 

 

Ummid.com: Disclaimer | Terms of Use | Advertise with us | Link Exchange

Ummid.com is part of the Awaz Multimedia & Publications providing World News, News Analysis and Feature Articles on Education, Health. Politics, Technology, Sports, Entertainment, Industry etc. The articles or the views displayed on this website are for public information and in no way describe the editorial views. The users are entitled to use this site subject to the terms and conditions mentioned.

© 2012 Awaz Multimedia & Publications. All rights reserved.