Pioneer-Dilli Billi-Jan.29th.2012-"THE POWER OF FOUR"

THE POWER OF FOUR

Four women have been making news. They are tough & ensured they succeed in a man’s world.


When it comes to women in Indian politics, people may be amused by the recent trend of politicians’ wives jumping into the fray, but the scene has actually been dominated and driven by four very different and unmarried women of power.

The first on the list is West Bengal’s Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. I am sure that nobody in the UPA can take a call on how to handle her. She is aggressive, moody and expresses her views vocally. One, of course, can’t take away the fact that she has had to struggle to reach where she is. Clad in a white dhoti and rubber chappals she has come a long way since she took oath. She has also taken a few U-turns on the way — becoming pro-maoist as soon as she came to power. It is unfortunate that nothing has been done to initiate peace talks with them.

Then we have Mayawati, the self-proclaimed messiah of poor Dalits. Behenji, in my opinion, should be the last person to talk about corruption. After all she has over the last four years has used her partymen to collect money for funding the election. But she has dropped them when fingers were raised on how corrupt the Ministers were in her party.

I wonder what Queen Victoria would have thought of Mayawati when she compared herself with Queen Victoria and Mughal Emperor Babar in her book. It is amazing how the Dalit leader, who is not known to have a clean image, has managed to throw out corrupt Ministers from her Cabinet. What is more surprising is that not a word has been heard from these Ministers.

No other political party would have been able to do away with so many heavyweight leaders and come out unscratched. This proves that Mayawati has never allowed any of her party leaders to reach that level.

How can we forget Uma Bharti. Though she is charismatic, she is also known to have a sharp tongue as many in the BJP and the media have been a witness to. She fretted and fumed and left the BJP. Now she is back. Hopefully her tantrums will be more controlled this time round.

And there is Jayalalithaa. She is known for not sticking to her decision. One does not know what her next move will be. She is a no nonsense lady. Ministers or officials who are asked to leave never get to know the reason for the orders. But her manners are impeccable and she is very sophisticated.

Despite their rudeness and tantrums, these four women are a class apart. It is amazing to see the confidence they have in their voters. They rule with an iron hand and no one dares to cross their path.

The tall leaders of the UPA have had their share of problems while dealing with them. One nevers knows if they are your friend or foe. One thing is, however, clear — they are tough bosses and they are here to stay and rule in a man’s world!