Money collection, fund raising and amassing of wealth has kept Mayawati ever under attack from her detractors and opponents. Fund raising has been one of the passions of Mayawati. She had made her birthdays the events for raising huge funds for her BSP mission. Mayawati openly asked for the monetary gifts from party workers and admirers. The response always was overwhelming. Her each birthday became a bonanza of crores of rupees.
The Manuist in Mayawati’s opinion press and media always detailed her money collection drives to create a picture of her as a moneymade politician who was using her Dalit mission and the party to amass huge wealth for herself. The hope was that it would paint her as a self serving greedy leader and Dalits would lost faith in her. Her personal assets and opulent living was detailed extensively to tarnish her image. But to the chagrin of the opponents and media bad press did not damage her character and the credibility in the genuineness of her mission for Dalits upliftment.
It did create some technical problems and she paid price for it. Once she circulated a note asking her MPs and MLAs to donate Rs 1 lakh to the party fund out of the grant they received for the development of their respective constituencies under a parliamentary legal provision. As it was technically illegal Mayawati had to resign from chief ministership as the heat built up. It made no impact on her support base. Her supporters may be illiterate but not stupid. They knew through experience, although they could not articulate in educated words that the syndicate of feudal lords, upper caste elements, exploiters, landlords and banias have been making money at their cost through all kinds of corrupt means. What was wrong if a Dalits managed to do the same?
Over the period the partyman realised the need of money for Mayawati to establish herself as a resourceful person. As the workers and the party members understood the importance of money in Maya’s mission all the partymen, functionaries, members of assemblies and parliament, followers, admirers and supporters got down to the business of raising money by all means. Much of it was unethical and unfair naturally. The officials helpfully connived or looked the other way if there was some unlawful element in fund rasing. More and more money poured into the coffers of BSP or Mayawati as the two had become synonymous. There was some logic behind it. Mayawati had not married had truly become the embodiment of BSP mission. But her detractors won’t buy this argument.
A party in power had a lot of other means of generating money for itself through projects, various schemes and contracts. As BSP coffers overflowed the properties got raised and those assets were in the name of Mayawati. She came to own some prize properties in Lucknow, Noida, Delhi and her native village. For simple village folk it was natural phenomenon connected to a person in power.
Infact the village folk admired her for raising wealth and properties, the very symbols of success and will being. And more so if a person belonged to the Dalit class.
Mayawati lived opulently, had an impressive wardrobe, array of jewellery, gold and gem tiaras presented to her by her supporters in public meetings and had copters and vehicles at her back and call. A Dalit woman going around like a princess gave a great heartburn to upper caste detractors. For them the proper thing would be a Dalit woman going about in humble dress whatever the level of her achievements and position. Her opponents targeted her and cases against her wealth of unreasonal proportion were initiated. The Enforcement Directorate investigated and raided the houses of Mayawati wherever they were. But by now the Dalit leader also know how such matters could be handled by counter legal moves and strong legal defence.
The birthdays of Mayawati became more and more money generative. It became a fashion to facilitate her with huge garlands made of currency notes. On her birthday in 2010 a garland made up of 1000 rupee currency notes which looked like a huge python graced her neck. It was claimed that the garland took currency notes worth Rs. 22 crores to make it. It made the national headlines. Undeterred by criticism against such vulgar show of money more such garlands followed of a bit smaller worth. The more Mayawati so indulged in such show of wealth the more pleased her admirers and supporters were.
What was the psychology behind it?
There is a definite game plan behind it which the other non-Dalit won’t understand or not like to admit the psychological point it made.
Dalits of India are the poorest of the poor people worked to their bones by others, the exploiters belonging to the upper castes. For a long time a Dalit would never see the shape of a coin of even small denomination. If a Dalit ever borrow a paltry sum for some emergency he and his future generations would end up doing bonded slavery for a long long time without wages for the lender. The lender would only give them survival rations to have hunger bring them back to work the next day. Such was the poverty Dalits suffered. A Dalit could never fight for his human rights or justice because he could not afford even a stamp paper.
Physical resistance against injustice was impossible because of undernourished physical state of Dalits. They were too deprived to last even for a day of protest if they dared because for the next meal they will have to go crawling to their tormentor for food.
Kanshiran understood this tragic state. That was why he set up his initial organisation BAMSEF, a body of government employees who could spare some money out of their salaries. The contributions kept BAMSEF afloat. It evolved into DS-4 with and more contributions BSP came into existence. Then Mayawati joined the party full time. She also understood the importance of money for their campaign and mission.
That was the stage when Mayawati realised Dalits had now a sizable support base and the armies of dedicated workers and followers who could do any sacrifice for her and party. She demanded monetary gifts on her birthdays to shore up the party finances. Contributions poured in as the supporters responded to her call. Her fund raising capability built up confidence of Dalits in Mayawati. The more Mayawati built up funds, assets and monetary resources the more Dalits believed in her capacity to fight battle for them. The lack of money power always had kept Dalits incapaciated. Now they had Mayawati who could raise huge funds through several ploys and amass wealth like the rest of the upper castes had been doing ever. The upper castes never cared for propriety and ethics in economic loot and plunder. So, why should Mayawati?
That is the secret behind money generation ploys of Mayawati. For other political parties it was just money and wealth but for BSP and Mayawati it is political asset and power, the faith and confidence of her Dalit voters. The more media tried to play up the money making spree of Mayawati the more political benefit accrued to her in the form of increased faith of her supporters in her fighting capacity.
There are other leaders like Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lalu Prasad Yadav who are also facing similar charges and are under investigation of central agencies. There are cases in the courts against them as well. A lot of other past politicians have also faced corruption charges and investigations but all those exercises came to an dead end.
Lately the corruption charges and CBI investigations have became a political game. In one moment the investigations go on fast track and then suddenly they lose steam as the political equations change.
As far as Mayawati is concerned the money power really means political power and the reinforcement of her supporters faith in her. That is why Mayawati cares little about what the media reports. She represents Dalits, the poorest of the land and only a leader with some financial clout can win their trust.They know how important money power is for the sustenance of Dalit movement and that is what their undisputed leader is garnering.
