Mayawati woos dalits with bungalow move

Mayawati has just played a masterstroke to consolidate her dalit vote bank by declaring her official residence in Lucknow as a Kanshi Ram memorial. The move corners the BJP which cannot change the use of the bungalow as this will project it as anti-dalit.

Lucknow: It is not for nothing that she is a politician whom everyone remains in awe of, irrespective of her party’s political fortunes.

BSP president Mayawati has just played a master stroke that has left the ruling BJP in Uttar Pradesh completely bewildered.

Even as other former chief ministers were seen squirming over the Supreme Court order to vacate their palatial bungalows, Ms Mayawati did not raise even a whimper of protest and quietly set about renovating another private bungalow (9 Mall Avenue), located at a stone’s throw away from her official bungalow at 13-A Mall Avenue, allotted to her as former chief minister.

Ms Mayawati played her master stroke as the deadline for vacating the bungalows neared. A board with “Shri Kanshi Ram Yaadgar Vishram Sthal” written on it sprung up on the main gate of the bungalow.

A day later, senior BSP leader Satish Chandra Misra met chief minister Yogi Adityanath and handed him a five-page letter that said that though the bungalow had originally been allotted to Ms Mayawati as former chief minister, in 2011 the state government had decided to convert it into a memorial. It was decided that Ms Mayawati would stay in a two-room set as caretaker of the memorial. Mr Misra also submitted a copy of the government order in this regard.

Ms Mayawati, on June 2, vacated the official bungalow and shifted to her private residence. However, before walking out of the bungalow, she convened a press conference in which she urged the state government to maintain the Kanshi Ram memorial.

“This place is linked to the sentiments of millions of followers of Kanshi Ram and I urge the government to preserve it,” she said.

In another master stroke, she called all media persons to see the house from inside — something she had never done earlier. In fact, till then hurriedly convened press conferences used to be held in the portico of 13-A Mall Avenue bungalow and no outsider was ever allowed inside.

While taking scribes on a tour of the bungalow, Ms Mayawati showed them murals of Kanshi Ram and other dalit icons (including herself) and statues inside. She showed the room where Kanshi Ram lived and then her own “tiny” room where she lived as caretaker.

The message was clear — the bungalow is a memorial and the government dare not convert it for another use.

The BSP chief’s move has eft the Yogi government in a dilemma. The government now stands the risk of losing out on dalit support if it disturbs the “memorial” and allot the bungalow to any person or office.

A senior official of the estate department admitted that Ms Mayawati’s master stroke had caught them unawares.

“We never knew that the Cabinet had turned it into a memorial. The relevant papers are nowhere to be found. The chief minister has now ordered an inquiry against us,” said the official.

Besides ensuring that the palatial bungalow stays within reach of the BSP and its leaders have access to it on occasions related to late Kanshi Ram, Ms Mayawati has also justified the money spent on the bungalow.

According to sources, Rs 86 crore were spent on 13-A Mall Avenue by the Mayawati regime from 2007-2012. The lavish spending is now justified since it was ostensibly for a memorial.

In sharp contrast, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav is already facing flak for the huge sums of money spent on his 4, Vikramaditya Marg bungalow and there is little he can justify about it.

Political analysts feel that Ms Mayawati has not only managed to save the iconic bungalow but also put the BJP in a hot spot. The BJP knows that any attempt to bring changes in the bungalow could lead to dalit uprising which it cannot face ahead of the 2019 polls.