At a glance: Mayawati - the 'Dalit Queen' of Indian politics

New Delhi: Mayawati is one of the shrewdest figures of Indian politics. Like Mahabharata's Arjun, her eyes are always set on the target and in her case, the target is ‘power at any cost – by hook or by crook'.Behan Mayawati giving a lecture and Sahib Kanshi Ram Ji sitting at the front row Mayawati has the distinction of being the first ‘Dalit' woman Chief Minister of India. She has served four terms as the CM of Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state. Mayawati with parents and siblingsStarting off her political career on a strong anti-Congress and anti-Jansangh/BJP plank, she went on to join hands with both these outfits for power and short term political gains. But to her credit, her strategy paid off ultimately when she snatched power in 2007 with a clear majority in UP assembly. Mayawati was born on 15 January 1956 in a Dalit (low caste) family of UP. Her father was a post office employee at Badalpur, Gautam Buddha Nagar. Her parents had 9 children and Mayawati was one of them.Mayawati was fond of studies since childhood although in her family girls were not encouraged for studies. But Mayawati did not give up her ambition and somehow managed to convince her parents.In 1975, She completed her graduation from Delhi University. She received B.Ed. degree from VMLG College, Ghaziabad next year.After completing her education she started working as a teacher in Inderpuri JJ Colony of Delhi. She also started preparing for civil services examination simultaneously. But the destiny had some other plans in store for her.The turning point in her life came when Kanshi Ram, a well-known Dalit philosopher and politician , heard her speech in a debate. Kanshi Ram was so impressed with her oratory that he convinced her to join active politics instead of joining administrative services. "I can make you such a big leader one day that not one but a whole row of IAS officers will line up for your orders,” Kanshi Ram told Mayawati.That was the beginning of a relationship that changed the discourse of ‘Dalit politics' in India. In 1984, when Kanshi Ram formed a new political party ‘ Bahujan Samaj Party', he included Mayawati as core member of his team. And there was no looking back for Mayawati there onwards. Mayawati was first elected to parliament in 1984 from Bijnor Lok Sabha constituency. Mayawati was first elected to the Rajya Sabha (Upper House) of Uttar Pradesh (UP) in 1994.In 1995, she became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh for the first time. She got the double distinction of becoming the youngest CM of UP as well as the first female Dalit CM ever in India. Her first term was short lived and she contested the 1996 Lok Sabha elections from Harora and was elected to parliament.She became CM of Uttar Pradesh once again in 1997 [Mar 21 – Sep 21], 2002 [May 3, 2002 – Aug 23, 2003] and 2007 [May 13, 2007 – March 7, 2012]. In 1997 and 2002, she became CM with the support of BJP.BSP under her leadership got full majority on its own in 2007 assembly elections. Before 2007 elections, Mayawati realized that she can't get a clear majority on her own unless she expands her vote base. For the first time, Mayawati gave tickets to upper caste candidates in large numbers and the combination clicked for her as she got a clear majority in the assembly and ruled for full 5 years.Mayawati is known for her autocratic style as well. Ask any of her party MLAs and MPs and they'll tell you that she expects others to follow her instructions without asking any questions. There are several disproportionate cases lodged against her and the CBI is investigating these cases. It is said that the ruling UPA government arm twists Mayawati by showing her the fear of CBI.She is also known for collecting huge amount of money from her party workers and bureaucrats (whenever she is in power) on her birthday i.e. Jan 15 that her party observe as ‘ Self Respect Day'.Let's have a look at some of the most interesting photographs of Mayawati's personal life and political journey:Mayawati in her younger daysMayawati with brother and niece