Road to success for Mayawati rugged yet eventful

Lucknow, May 13 (UNI) It has been a rugged yet eventful road to success for teacher-turned-politician Mayawati, who today assumed the office of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister for the fourth time.

Significantly, she will also create the record of being the first woman in UP to get the prestigious post as many as four times. She was also the first Dalit woman to don the UP CM's mantle the first time 12 years ago.

Known for her different style of functioning, Mayawati, popularly referred to as 'behenji', has been the leading light of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), a party which has steadily climbed the ladder of success, becoming a political force to reckon with in the Hindi heartland.

However, the death of her mentor and BSP founder Kanshi Ram last year dealt a body blow to the party, but Mayawati, who was accused in several scams during her last regime, put behind all the odds to lead the party to success in the assembly polls.

The new social engineering of Dalit-Brahmim combination for the first time in UP politics floated by her achieved a clear distinction and defeated all competing combinations and permutations.

The modern-day champion of Dalit rights, Mayawati was born on January 15,1956 in Delhi where her father Prabhudayal was employed as a supervisor with the Post and Telegraph department. However, the family traces its roots to Baadalpur Village of the then Bulandshahar and now Ghaziabad district of UP.

The BSP president did a major part of her education in Delhi.

She did BA and LLB from Kalindi College of Delhi University and later took a B Ed degree from DU itself. During student life, Mayawati was an active participant in several debate competitions and student movements where she always lent a strong voice to the problems and concerns of the weak and downdtrodden section of society.

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