Mayawati ji was born on 15 January 1956 in New Delhi at Shrimati Sucheta Kriplani Hospital. Her mother was Shrimati Ram Rathi. Her father Prabhu Das was a post office employee at Badalpur, Gautam Buddha Nagar.
Mayawati ji was a good student and did two degrees – a Bachelors of Arts and an LL.B. from Kalindi Women’s College under the University of Delhi. Subsequently, she did her B.Ed from VMLG College, Ghaziabad. She was working as a teacher in Inderpuri JJ Colony, Delhi, and studying for the Indian Administrative Services exams, when Kanshi Ram ji reached out to her and said, “She will become a big leader one day that not one but a whole row of IAS officers will line up for her orders”. He was so right. She was part of Kanshi Ram’s team when he founded the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in 1984. Mayawati ji was a key member of this organization.
Mayawati ji won election to the Lok Sabha for the first time in 1989, from Bijnor. In 1995, while a member of the Rajya Sabha, she became The Chief Minister in coalition government, and validated her position by winning from two constituencies in 1996. She was again Chief Minister for a short period in 1997, and then for a longer term in coalition with the Bharatiya Janata Party from 2002 to 2003. Before that in 2001 her mentor, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Kanshi Ram, named her as his successor. Mayawati ji attracted support from the members of all classes and won a majority in 2007 elections, the first such majority since 1991.
The campaign was accompanied by a colorful slogan: Haathi nahin, Ganesh hain, Brahma, Vishnu Mahesh Hain: “The elephant (BSP Logo) is really the Lord Ganesha, the trinity of gods rolled into one”.
Mayawati ji was sworn in as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh for the fourth time on 13 May 2007. She announced an agenda that focused on providing social justice to the weaker sections of society and providing employment instead of distributing money to the unemployed. Her slogan was to make “Uttar Pradesh” (“Northern Province”) into “Uttam Pradesh” (“Excellent Province”).
Due to her excellent leadership and work for the general public, the BSP won 20 seats in Lok Sabha from the state of Uttar Pradesh in the 2009 elections. The BSP obtained the highest percentage (27. 42%) of votes in Uttar Pradesh for any one political party.
Her supporters declared her birthday as Jan Kalyankari Diwas (People’s Welfare Day). In 2009 the day was marked by the announcement of welfare schemes targeted towards poor and downtrodden people of the state.
In her tenures as a Chief Minister, Mayawati erected number of statues of Buddhist and Dalit icons like Gautam Buddha ji, Ravidas ji, Narayana Guru ji, Jyotirao Phule ji, Shahuji Maharaj ji, Periyar Ramasami ji, Bhimrao Ambedkar ji and BSP founder Kanshi Ram ji. The statues and symbols of Dalit Icons were required because the past governments did not show respect towards Dalit icons, in whose memory nothing was ever built.
We wish Uttar Pradesh will become Uttam Pradesh during under Mayawati ji’s leadership, and her name will keep on shinning.
Note: If there is any feedback or suggestions, please email at admin@mayawati.org