India, Aug. 3 -- In June 1995, governor Motilal Vora swore in Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati as the Uttar Pradesh chief minister in the middle of the night. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supported her from the outside after the BSP broke its formidable alliance with the Samajwadi Party (SP), which had ruled the state under Mulayam Singh Yadav's leadership since 1993.

A day after Mayawati became the state's first Dalit chief minister, Yadav said the Congress, which was in power at the Centre and had appointed Vora as governor two years ago, had made the biggest political blunder. He warned that Dalits would never return to the Congress, which they had supported until then.

Dalits found a saviour in Mayawati, and a significa...