In a maidan in Sitapur, two hours west of Lucknow, a large crowd gathers to hear Mayawati's first speech of the Uttar Pradesh campaign. Grand rallies, like the statues of Lucknow, are key to the BSP's myth of invincibility. But Mayawati's critics say she's trying to paper over 5 years of misrule. This week, we intercut between the rhetoric of the rally and the reality of the lives of those who attend it, to ask: Does Mayawati have more to offer than the staging of grand spectacles?
