Nita and Harini have been paying some serious attention to Mayawati and Obama- Harini says caste and gender might not be really major constraints for Mayawati just as race doesn’t seem to be a hurdle for Obama:

For me, caste and gender are not the only defining factor here. You possibly also need to look at region. She is a UP leader. If you want to be more charitable – she is a North Indian leader. Talk to the electorate in Maharashtra (even the ‘dalit vote bank’)- and she doesn’t have too many takers, talk to them in TN – they possibly would not even have heard of her. Talk to the in West Bengal – and she possibly does not even feature in the top 20. The problem with Mayawati is not that she is woman or Dalit or autocratic or corrupt. She faces the same problem that Sharad Pawar and MGR had, that Mulayam and Lallu have — they are regional heroes. Unless Mayawati positions her party and herself beyond where there are now — she will not be the PM. It has nothing to do with being either Dalit or Woman.

Nita explores the comparison with Obama and says allegations of corruption wouldn’t, probably, be a major problem for Mayawati, but hints that Obama’s (and Mayawati’s) victory could mean a setback for social justice in the United States (and India?):

Mayawati doesn’t qualify but this is a democracy and the majority decides. In any case, how many people does our present Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh represent anyway? He’s the PM thanks to our parliamentary system. In a presidential system, Madame Gandhi could well have been the undisputed one.