But if power is also a moderator of positions, and if that is a necessary attribute of the powerful in a country as diverse as India, in Mayawati’s case, the moderation has just begun. It is yet unstable, still incomplete.

Changes are afoot in the BSP, especially since its stunning conquest of UP in 2007. For one, a party that disdains the media, and justifiably boasts that it has made it big despite the chattering classes, is now calling many more press conferences. She still selects the questions that she will answer, but at the several press meets she has called in the capital after winning UP, on events of national importance ranging from the Supreme Court ruling on the “creamy layer” to the Indo-US nuclear deal, Mayawati has been less brusque, more relaxed.

The term “manuwadi” used to pepper the BSP’s infrequent press releases and her speeches. Now the good word is “sarvajan”. Many argue the change is only tactical. But ever since early intimations of success in stitching a larger coalition in the run-up to the 2007 UP poll, the mellowing of the BSP’s vocabulary is distinct.

The BSP used to split often. There were large-scale defections in 1995, 1997 and 2003. One reason is that tickets to elections are bartered to outsiders who bear no long-term loyalty to the party. Another reason could be Mayawati’s famed intolerance of any signs of independent thinking in the BSP. But the party has been relatively stable for the last few years and all the credit does not go to the anti-defection law. In UP power is the glue, but the case of the BSP in Rajasthan may be more telling. After the BSP’s six MLAs voted for the Gehlot government in the recent confidence vote in Jaipur, reports of an angry Behenji were followed by reports of a patient Behenji, hearing out the Rajasthan MLAs and acquiescing to their decision. As the BSP spreads to other states, Mayawati may find it more difficult to retain her tight grip. Significantly, in Rajasthan, the BSP presence jumped from a paltry two seats in 1998 and 2003 to a crucial six in a delicately balanced House.

... contd.