http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20070511-1728-india-stateelections.html
Low-caste politician sweeps to power in India’s largest state
ASSOCIATED PRESS
5:28 p.m. May 11, 2007
LUCKNOW, India India’s most powerful low-caste politician swept into power Friday in the country’s largest state, dealing a political blow to the scion of the powerful Gandhi clan.
Mayawati, a fiery 51-year-old woman who goes by one name, was set to become the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, a vast, poor state that encompasses more than 180 million people and often sets the political agenda for the rest of the country.
I thank people of all castes and communities who supported my party to achieve this overwhelming victory, Mayawati, a dalit, or untouchable, at the bottom of India’s complex social ladder, said at a news conference.
With results final in all but six of the 403 seats in the state assembly on Friday, Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party had won 202 seats, enough to form a government without a coalition, according to the Press Trust of India news agency which cited state election authorities.
The election will likely slow the rise of Rahul Gandhi the son, grandson and great-grandson of Indian prime ministers. By Friday afternoon, Gandhi’s Congress party had gained no additional seats in the state assembly despite his relentless campaigning. Gandhi holds a seat in the Indian Parliament, representing a rural district in Uttar Pradesh.
The election was the first serious political test of Gandhi, 36, who is a rising power in the Congress party and despite his youth and inexperience already is mentioned as a possible future prime minister. Though the Congress party is not a major force in the state, Gandhi’s campaigning was expected to help boost its political power.
Mayawati forged a powerful coalition that brought together low-caste and Brahmin voters and candidates to force out Mulayam Singh Yadav, the state’s outgoing chief minister whose own support was rooted among middle-caste farmers.
Mayawati, who has been chief minister of the state twice before, lost power in 2003 amid controversy over her government’s approval of a $40 million-dollar tourism complex near the Taj Mahal.
The Uttar Pradesh elections are unlikely to have an immediate impact on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Congress-led government in New Delhi, though the state often plays a key role in shaping national political alliances. The next national elections are due in 2009.