May 4, 2002	Saturday	Safar 20, 1423

LUCKNOW, May 3: A lower-caste leader took power in Uttar Pradesh on Friday after striking a deal to support the embattled Hindu nationalists who lead the federal coalition.

Mayawati, the leader of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which represents millions at the bottom of the Hindu caste hierarchy, was sworn in as chief minister of the northern state of Uttar Pradesh at the head of a coalition government.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee was voted out of power in Uttar Pradesh elections in February but has joined Mayawati’s coalition as a junior partner.

In return, the BJP, whose 19-party federal coalition has been hit by a wave of dissent over religious violence in western Gujarat state, can count on the support of Mayawati’s 13 lawmakers in the national parliament.

Mayawati said Muslims need not worry about her alliance with the Hindu nationalists, who have been accused of doing too little to quell India’s worst religious violence in a decade that has killed more than 900, mostly Muslims.

“I wish to assure the Muslims of this state that they have nothing to fear, the BSP is not a communal party,” she told a news conference.

Mayawati, 46, has twice held office as Uttar Pradesh chief minister in partnership with the BJP, but both coalitions were short-lived.—Reuters