Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07NEWDELHI2533
2007-05-29 11:44:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy New Delhi
Cable title:  

BIOGRAPHY: SATISH CHANDRA MISHRA, BAHUJAN SAMAJ

Tags:  PGOV PHUM PREL PINR IN 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO8617
OO RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDBU RUEHLH RUEHPW
DE RUEHNE #2533/01 1491144
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 291144Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5934
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 6225
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 2136
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 5035
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEIDN/DNI WASHINGTON DC
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 4770
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 6987
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RHMFISS/HQ USSOCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 002533 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SCA/INS, DRL, INR/B

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/29/2017
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL PINR IN
SUBJECT: BIOGRAPHY: SATISH CHANDRA MISHRA, BAHUJAN SAMAJ
PARTY GENERAL SECRETARY


Classified By: Deputy PolCouns Atul Keshap for reasons 1.4 (B,D)


UTTAR PRADESH CHIEF MINISTER'S RIGHT HAND MAN
----------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 002533

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SCA/INS, DRL, INR/B

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/29/2017
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL PINR IN
SUBJECT: BIOGRAPHY: SATISH CHANDRA MISHRA, BAHUJAN SAMAJ
PARTY GENERAL SECRETARY


Classified By: Deputy PolCouns Atul Keshap for reasons 1.4 (B,D)


UTTAR PRADESH CHIEF MINISTER'S RIGHT HAND MAN
--------------


1. (C) Satish Chandra Mishra, Member of Parliament (MP) from
Uttar Pradesh (UP) in the Rajya Sabha (Upper House) and
General Secretary of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP),is widely
acknowledged to be the right hand man of Mayawati, the new
powerful BSP Chief Minister (CM) of UP. She inducted him
into her Cabinet without a specific portfolio. Part of
Mayawati's inner circle, Mishra spends time with her and her
family on birthdays and holidays. It is reported that
Mayawati not only allows Mishra to share the stage with her,
but also to interject when she is talking, something no one
else in the BSP would "dare." Anyone else upstaging Mayawati
would be immediately dealt with and disciplined.

MASTERMIND OF UP SOCIAL ENGINEERING
--------------

2 (C) The architect of the BSP,s experiment in social
engineering, Mishra advocated targeting Brahmins, who command
13 per cent of the vote in U.P., in addition to the 21 per
cent strong lower caste electorate to tilt the political
balance in favor of the BSP. Now with 42 Brahmin state
assembly legislators and seven ministers beholden to him,
Mishra is perhaps the most powerful leader in the BSP after
Mayawati. In early 2005, Mishra tirelessly toured the state
advising Brahmins to recognize that they were a powerful vote
bank and urging them to unite behind Mayawati. Mishra, who
traveled 22,000 km across the 70 districts of Uttar Pradesh
holding BSP Brahmin Sammelans (conventions) between July 1,
2006 and September 15, 2006, emerged as the principal
architect of the Brahmin project.


3. (C) Mishra is fluent in English and serves as the
principle interlocutor between the US Embassy and the BSP.
He has graciously hosted Embassy officers at his house and
has been forthright and frank in his discussions, even to the
point of acknowledging Mayawati's penchant for personal
corruption and her strong authoritarian streak. Mayawati has

very weak English language skills and limited exposure to
non-Indians and may not be entirely comfortable interacting
with Americans. To date, she has preferred to use Mishra in
this role, although a future meeting, probably between
Mayawati and the Ambassador (with Mishra likely acting as
translator),cannot be ruled out. We suspect Mayawati will
limit her interaction with the Embassy to non-substantive
outreach meetings, and continue to rely on Mishra to handle
substantive issues.

PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND
--------------


4. (C) Mishra began his career as a lawyer practicing in the
Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court. He chaired the Bar
Council of UP in 1998-1999 and served as Advocate General of
the State from 2002-2003. In 2002, Mayawati appointed Mishra
as UP advocate-general in 2002 and National General Secretary
of the BSP in January 2004. He was elected to the Rajya
Sabha as a BSP nominee in July 2004. As a MP in the Rajya
Sabha, Mishra has served on several committees, including:
the Committee on Home Affairs, the Committee on Petroleum and
Natural Gas, the Business Advisory Committee, the Committee
on Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme, and
the Consultative Committee for the Ministry of External
Affairs

PERSONAL INTERESTS AND BACKGROUND
--------------


5. (C) Mishra has an active interest in the education and
empowerment of physically disadvantaged individuals,

NEW DELHI 00002533 002 OF 002


especially the blind. He has organized several seminars and
conferences and filed public interest litigation to benefit
the interests of the disadvantaged, including those who are
handicapped, widowed and low wage workers.


6. (C) Born on November 9, 1952 into an elite Brahmin family
of Lucknow, Mishra holds a law-graduate degree from Allahabad
University. His father, Justice Tribeni Sahai Misra was a
reputed jurist. Mishra is married to Kalpna Mishra, and the
couple has one son and four daughters.


7. (C) Mishra has traveled extensively to the UK, France and
the U.S. He spends his free time playing cricket, badminton
and table tennis. He also organizes cricket matches for
blind students. Mishra speaks English and Hindi.


8. (C) Mishra views politics and law as interconnecting the
family business with his political activities -- a
continuation of his father's activities. Likewise, he is
grooming his son to act as his successor both within the
family law firm and in the BSP. His son is currently
completing his legal studies and working part-time at the
firm; he will be taken in as a junior partner shortly.
Mishra has already constructed an office for his son in the
sprawling office-residential complex that houses the firm.
Mishra is very proud of his just-completed office complex
with its heavy reliance on state fo the art computers (a
rarity in UP),and expects his son to keep the firm up to
date.
MULFORD