UP assembly elections 2017: India's favourite Dalit beti- Mayawati

Mayawati is all geared up for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections scheduled to be held next year

Mayawati, who has come out with all guns blazing against the Centre, recently said that Uttar Pradesh will not vote for BJP after demonetisation. Terming the government's demonetisation move as a 'huge hoax', Mayawati said that the Modi-goverment implemented the note ban because the PM is scared of losing Uttar Pradesh.

Mayawati is all geared up for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections next year. Here is a brief profile about the former UP CM:

Date of birth: January 15, 1956

Education: Mayawati holds a Bachelors Degree in Arts from Kalindi College. She has a B.Ed from BMLG College, Ghaziabad and has an LLB from Delhi University.

Family history: Mayawati was born in a middle-class family to Prabhu Das and Ramrati.

Political career: Mayawati, known for being the voice of Dalits, first met well-known Dalit politician Kanshi Ram in 1977. Following the meeting, Ram advised that Mayawati join politics.

• In 1984, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) was formed by Ram and Mayawati was inducted as a member of the party.

• She contested the Lok Sabha assembly elections in 1989 and was elected as the member of Parliament for the first time.

• In 1994, she became a member of the Rajya Sabha for the first time.

• In 1995, she became the first-ever Dalit woman to serve as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. She was known for her active movement for the Dalit upliftment.

• In 1997, she was again appointed as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.

• On May 3, 2002, she was elected as the chief minister of UP for the third time.

• In 2007, she was nominated as the CM for the fourth time and remained so in power till March 2012.

• During the 2014 Assembly elections, BSP lost majority to Samajwadi Party.

Controversies:

Mayawati has often courted controversies over her lavish birthday celebrations. Mayawati was also accused of spending lakhs for erecting statues of Dalit icons including herself across the state and even allowing to erect statues of elephants (BSP's party symbol) in Uttar Pradesh.

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