“But that keeps the spotlight on Mayawati as the ultimate leader,” says Prasad.

Mayawati has now set out to do something that even Ambedkar couldn’t create—a pan-Indian Dalit party. Will she succeed where the RPI failed? The RPI too had set out to spread across the country but disintegrated, with its leaders joining other parties. Even Mallikarjun Kharge, Karnataka State Congress president, started his political career in the RPI.

Maya is out to reverse that process and the Karnataka assembly election is her next litmus test. States such as Karnataka, where the Dalit population and political awareness are high but mobilisation is low, are ideal grounds for the BSP.

The elephant, which was originally the election symbol of the RPI, now belongs to the BSP. Other Dalit leaders have compromised for power. Mayawati, too, has compromised, but on her own terms, often making the Congress and the BJP a junior appendage. “The BSP will upset calculations of everyone, particularly the Congress, across the country,” says Prasad.

Since every state and region has its unique characteristics, replicating the UP strategy may not be possible. But then Mayawati’s biggest success so far has been her ability to micro-manage to the extent of making winning social combinations for individual constituencies.

She may or may not succeed but never before has a Dalit leader come this close to Raisina Hill.