Hail the new Maya

The pollster have got it wrong again , inspite of the so many high profile exit polls across Television channesl - non of them was near the target and the variation being as high as 40% . It is surprising to analyse how can they get it wrong each time particularly if a party is due for a majority it cannot escape detection either during the opinion polls or exit polls. Mayavati has proved the strongest of her detractors wrong and what she has pulled off is truely remarkable considering that she neither had any star power nor any manifesto to speak off except the anti - mulayam rehetoric.

The social engineering of having a diverse set of communities on a single platform my opinion has a very positive side , with such a diverse community supporting her no one caste/religion will get undue benefits due to the pulls and pressures. Mayavati has shown tremendous pragmatism and a foresight far ahead of her rivals - which were always seeped into their own parochial mindset - it will be very interesting to see how she is able to balance every one's expectations in the days to come. The significant risk is that there is no visbily economic plank and how she will be going about carrying the affairs of state particularly when she is done with hounding the Mulayam coterie of politicians, goons, henchman and bureaucrats.

Its truly amazing to see how the Brahmins ( upper castes ) and the dalits ( lower caste ) the staunchest of foes can come come together for power sharing keeping aside their centuries of animosity and if this can be achived in such a fragmented state of Uttar Pradesh it bodes well for the rest of the country. This will force the mainstream political parties to reach out to a larger political canvas hitherto ignored by them. Possibly the the quota politics will take a back seat and meritocracy will gain credence.