She may have extended her “unconditional support” to the “secular” UPA on Monday, but Mayawati’s latest move is a U-turn from her usually unforgiving stance towards the

Congress. A refresher:

* April 16, 2008: Terming Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi’s much-publicised visit to a Dalit home a “mere hoax”, she accused the Congress of being anti-Dalit. “Every time Rahul visits a Dalit’s house, he takes a bath with a special soap and performs shuddhi (purification ritual).”

* July 23, 2008: When the UPA won the trust vote, Mayawati was not pleased. “Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should resign on moral grounds. This is a black day in the history of democracy. The method adopted by the Congress to save its government was a setback for democracy. It is not a victory of the UPA, but the result of the politics played by the UPA and the NDA.”

* October 15, 2008: The controversy over the rail coach factory in Rae Bareli had the BSP chief directing her ire at the Congress president. “Sonia Gandhi is hatching a political conspiracy against the BSP over the withdrawal of land in Rae Bareli for a rail coach factory. It is a calculated move by the Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Sonia Gandhi and her party are misguiding people by projecting that the BSP is against development. If the Congress really wants development in the true sense, why is it not taking up any development projects in Bundelkhand and eastern UP?”

... contd.