E arly this month, the 19th death anniversary of Kanshi Ram, the founder of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), turned into a show of numerical strength for party chief Mayawati. Tens of thousands of supporters trooped into Lucknow from parts of Uttar Pradesh, and many others came in from Punjab, Haryana, Bihar and Uttarakhand. It was difficult to ignore what was easily the most massive of Ms. Mayawati’s rallies in almost a decade.

Her brother, Anand Kumar, and nephew, Akash Anand, stood with her and she spoke uninterrupted for an hour. Clearly still living under the fear of the imaginary clout of a diminished Congress in the State, she railed against dynastic politics. She ranted against the Samajwadi Party (SP), accusing it of selective amnesia when it came to the Dalits of U.P. She was ril

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