Little did she know, that in the last two years of her rule, atrocities on SCs and STs showed a manifold increase. Snubbed by her Dalit vote bank, prior to her dalliance with the 'sarva samaj' in the Lok Sabha polls, Mayawati has fallen back on her core constituency and has unleashed a series of initiatives to win them back. Whether they pay off or not is a matter that only time will tell, or maybe the forthcoming by-elections to five assembly seats. Amongst the measures to coutner the Congress's drive to wean away the Dalit vote, is the decision to invoke NSA in any case of land grabbing, or killing or rape of a Dalit; such cases will merit a visit within 24 hours by the UP Director General of Police, to the scene of incident, and disbursement of an ex-gratia/compensation in person, by the DGP.

This government order saw DGP Vikram Singh heli-hop across the state - 18 places in the last two months alone. Other than precious and expensive aviation fuel being burnt, the move has also caused ripples among the upper castes whose support Mayawati currently enjoys in the state assembly. While they feel that the state should be seen as fair to all when it comes to crime and atrocities, the Dalits too are not too amused by what they call a "hogwash". And they have plenty of reasons to think in this cynical way. If statistics of the state home department are to be held as indicators of crimes against Dalits, it is showing an upward turn and is indicative that stern measures by the state government have not acted as deterrents in this caste-riddled state. Sample this - on an average day, the state reports as many as 19-20 FIRs by Dalits. In the first half of the year alone, more than 1000 cases of atrocities against Dalits, have been lodged.

This, officials say is, by and large, because of the atmosphere of fearlessness created during Maya's regime. There are many however who contest this act of the government. Even the statistics dished out by the government speak of an upward spiral in crimes against Dalits. A recent state government publication, issued by the home department, titled; 'Actions and Achievements of the UP Police' for the year 2009-2010, cedes that in the last two years such atrocities have grown by 37.30 percent. In 2006, when Mayawati's arch rival Mulayam Singh Yadav was at the helm, 5056 cases of Dalit harassment were registered which grew on to 6628 in 2007 and in 2008 this figure shot through the roof to touch an alarming 6942 cases. Officials while admitting to the upward spurt however say this is only because now the cases are being registered unlike earlier, when they were brushed under the carpet.

The registration of cases under various sections of the IPC has also increased phenomenally too - in 2006 they were 2238, in 2007 there were 3064 and in 2008 there were 3543 registered cases. Rape of Dalit women were pegged at 255 in 2006, rose to 339 in 2007 and in 2008 they touched a shameful 333. In 2007, 313 dalits were killed/murdered while in 2008 this number was 229. Mayawati reacted with unusual elan when the Congress state chief used a derogatory word against her, but she probably does not have time to look at the statistics of women harassment under her government.

From 16,539 cases of atrocities against women in 2006, this number has seen a 28.27 per cent rise to touch 21,215 cases in 2008. Women kidnappings have increased by 41 per cent, while rapes have increased by 29 per cent.