The rally of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati in Mumbai was not as huge as expected, but she managed to convey to her political opponents that the Bahujan Samaj Party is a future threat to them in Maharashtra.
The organisers of the rally had expected more than 1,00,000 people to turn up at the Shivaji Park grounds in central Mumbai, but not more than 60,000 people showed up from different parts of Maharashtra.
"I don't think the turnout is unimpressive," said Vishal Sakat, a BSP supporter from Pune, at the Shivaji Park grounds in Mumbai.
"Can Maharashtra leaders like Vilasrao Deshmukh, Sharad Pawar or for that matter even Bal Thackeray gather these many people in Uttar Pradesh or any other state of India besides Maharashtra? The answer is no. We are beginning over here and in the coming years, we will rule Maharashtra," added Sakat.
Another surprise element was that none of the major political leaders from established parties like Congress or even Nationalist Congress Party switched loyalty to join hands with her as was being expected by political analysts.
The biggest of them was supposed to be Chhagan Bhujbal, former deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, who has been sidelined in NCP for quite long after his name came up in Telgi scam case.
The streets of Mumbai were painted blue during the past one week and hoardings of Mayawati were seen all over the place as a massive show of strength to BSP's political opponents.
Text: Syed Firdaus Ashraf
Photographs: Satish Bodas
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