Love her, hate her but you definitely cannot ignore her. Not with the innumerable billboards of her staring down at you the minute you land anywhere in Uttar Pradesh. That’s Mayawati Naina Kumari for you. One lady who’s always in the news and if she isn’t, then she makes sure she is. Whether it’s about making her birthday a national holiday or about the self proclaimed death threats, she ensures that she’s talked about. Though constantly embroiled in some controversy or the other like the Taj Corridor scam, there’s no missing her popularity in the state.

Not a lady of few words, she rose to power by endorsing her Dalit status. When she realized that it wasn’t good enough to sustain her position as a Chief Minister she had to tweak her strategy. This time, her target audience was the masses – the lower as well as the upper caste and then there was no stopping her rise to the throne. Through this mass appeal she could transform her regional party (BSP) to a party of national status. She’s definitely come a long way from being a teacher to a diamond jewelry laden national figure. However, she’s not taking a back seat and has her eyes set on Delhi. She has begun her rallies from Jammu and Kashmir to Karnataka and the way she’s going Delhi doesn’t seem too far after all!

Via: BBC

Image: IBN