August 10, 2008	Sunday	Sha’aban 7, 1429

LUCKNOW, Aug 9: With general elections less than a year away, India’s charismatic low-caste leader Mayawati vowed on Saturday that she would become the country’s prime minister.

Mayawati, dubbed the “dalit queen” — a group on the lowest rung of India’s caste hierarchy — swept to power last year in India’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh for the fourth time.

“If a Dalit woman like me can become the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh not once but four times, why can I not become the prime minister of India?” she said at a one-day convention of her party in state capital Lucknow.

“We have got Uttar Pradesh. Delhi is next,” she added.

Mayawati has made clear her national ambitions several times since her big election win last year — most recently as a powerbroker in an attempt to bring down the government during a trust vote last month.

The attempt failed but not without the 52-year-old politician demonstrating her clout by wooing several lawmakers from the government’s camp.

The firebrand leader also claimed on Saturday her life could be in danger during her bid for India’s top post and said she had chosen a successor from her own caste — but would not reveal the person’s name.

“I will not disclose his name in my lifetime but keep it a secret,” said Mayawati, adding two of her most trusted lieutenants had been told the name.

“I can assure you the person will be acceptable to the Dalit community.” She did not state where she believed the possible threat to her life might come from.

A number of Indian leaders have been assassinated during the six decades since the country’s independence from Britain including freedom icon Mahatma Gandhi, who was killed by a Hindu fanatic.

The ruling Congress party has been rattled by Mayawati’s rise after it fared poorly in recent state elections.

Congress has traditionally enjoyed the national support of the dalits — or “untouchables” as they used to be known under India’s ancient caste system.

But many of them now prefer to vote for Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj (Majority People’s) Party instead. —AFP