Maya's march to Delhi: But is she PM material?

EYE ON DELHI: Mayawati's ulitmate, long-term aim is to capture power in New Delhi.

          

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She's 52 and is talking big. After an absolute majority in Uttar Pradesh, there seems to be no stopping Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati who celebrated her birthday in her trademark lavish style in Delhi on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, her party’s vote share has risen in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh and if it crosses 50 seats in the 2009 General Elections, Mayawati could become far bigger than just the chief minister of UP.

CNN-IBN debated if Mayawati is a possible contender for the Prime Miniter’s post on Face the Nation. The show moderated by Sagarika Ghose had on the panel President, National justice party Udit Raj; social activist Kancha Ilaiah; JNU professor Sudha Pai and senior journalist and BJP member Sheshadri Chari.

Mayawati and her party’s ambitions have never been a secret. While BSP’s founding father Kanshi Ram always maintained that for the party, the ultimate aim was to capture power in Delhi, Mayawati has never made a secret of her long-term aim. In fact, when US Magazine Newsweek ranked her among the top eight women leaders last year, this is what Mayawati said in her article: Our aim now is to replicate the winning formula in other states and prepare for the bigger struggle to capture power in New Delhi.

Hypothetically speaking, if the BSP manages to get at least 50 seats in the 2009 Elections, she will be in the same position as the Left is today.

Considering her ambition and her show in UP elections, this could be a giant leap. However, Chari did not agree. “It’s early to say. Every successful politician nurtures the ambition of becoming a PM. There is another political woman from the south who has the same dream and has said it. But dream doesn’t mean everything,” he said.

Maya's maya: How long will it last?

While Chari admitted the BJP had acknowledged Maywati’s might, her divisive politics to do her in. “She shouldn’t divide the society into Dalits and non-Dalits,” he said.

Sudha Pai, too, seemed skeptical of Maya’s reach and said it was too early to comment on her national-level popularity. “I don’t think it’s that simple. In UP, we have to wait and see if the coalition (Dalit-Brahmin) will last. It depends on whether she can put into practice the inclusive developmental agenda and in doing so, can she continue to get the support of Dalits,” Pai said.