India's untouchable prime minister?

In the latest edition of Prospect, novelist and economist Meghnad Desai argues that no one has more to gain from India's coming general election than Kumari Mayawati, the country's most powerful dalit (untouchable) politician.

Mayawati has already had a remarkable career: she was the first female dalit to become chief Minister of an Indian province, and one of the first in a generation to convincingly mobilise dalits into a political movement to be reckoned with. With this election, she stands a chance of taking power at the centre, and becoming India's first untouchable prime minister.

Desai argues convincingly that this could be a defining moment in Indian history. A Mayawati-led government would be "a victory more impressive than Obama," since Mayawati not only represents  an oppressed ethnic group, but also its most politically militant strand. Her rise to power has been based on an uncompromising expression of dalit identity and sense of grievance. In the context of Indian politics, she is "more akin to Louis Farrakhan or Malcom X [than Martin Luther King]," writes Desai.

For many non-Dalit communinities, her strident rhetoric and allegations of corruption have made her a much more ambivalent figure.

Does Mayawati represent a genuine change, or more of the same under a different guise? As always, weigh in with your thoughts and comments here.