Chief Minister Kumari Mayawati Das of Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, reportedly paid around 260 million rupees (US$5.2 million) in income tax for the fiscal year 2007-08, making her the highest taxpayer among India’s politicians. However, she is no businesswoman. She is a politician, and her capricious rise from rags to riches speaks for the kind of democracy and politics practiced in India.