There was a story about the Chief Minister of the state of Uttar Pradesh (UP), Mayawati Kumari, on NPR a couple of days ago. Mayawati’s party is the Bahujan Samaj Party, a primarily lower caste (BC, SC, ST) party, and Mayawati was the first Dalit woman to be Chief Minister of an Indian state. Though her earlier political campaigns were full of vitriol against the upper castes, her decisive victory in state elections in May 2007 occurred partly because she’s now branched out to work with upper castes (she’s said she now favors reservations based on income level, not just caste). Mayawati is also branching out geographically, to try and bring her party to power in upcoming elections in neighboring Madhya Pradesh, and she’s begun saying publicly that her real aspiration is to hold power at the Centre — to become, in other words, the next Prime Minister.

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Impressive, right? Well, not so fast. Mayawati is also flagrantly, unapologetically corrupt, and the prospect of her coming to power is also rather frightening, once you start to look more closely. Here, for instance, are some bits from the BBC:

Before the elections last year, she declared she had assets worth $13.7m. Last month, she paid $3.9m in advance taxes. Before the close of the financial year, she’s expected to pay $1.3m more.

Her ever-growing wealth, explained by her officials as “gifts” from her doting supporters, has failed to convince many.

And she has often been caught up in allegations of corruption. During her earlier stint as chief minister, she was accused of approving a project to build a massive shopping complex near the Taj Mahal in violation of laws protecting the famous monument. She has denied any wrongdoing. (link)

On the other hand, it’s not like the Samajwadi Party wasn’t corrupt. It’s just that Mayawati takes it to a new level, and seems to be especially fond of the bling bling:

Mayawati has a special fondness for mega birthday parties and she has been criticised by the media for cutting huge cakes while laden with expensive diamond jewellery.

But, Mr Pradhan says her core audiences appreciate her diamonds.

“Her diamonds are a message of hope to her supporters. It’s like she’s telling them - look today I am here. Yesterday I was like you. If I can get it, so can you. They feel very proud of the fact that she is one of them.” (link)

Yeah, I think I’ve heard that one before: “I’m corrupt and extravagant, because my followers demand it of me.” (No, actually, let’s start with adequate housing, clean water, and jobs.)

And finally, there’s the statues:

Ms Mayawati is also known for her obsession with statues - of past Dalit leaders and also her own. Lucknow’s best-known statue maker Shraavan Prajapati has made seven statues - big and small - of Mayawati.

On being challenged, a senior government official close to Mayawati counters with a question of his own: “How come no one objects when memorials are built for Mahatma Gandhi? Or when the Congress Party puts up statues of members of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty?” (link)

The more I read about Mayawati, the more I think, “hm, maybe the Nehru family isn’t so bad after all. How old is Rahul, again?”