Mumbai: Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) boss and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati have a lot in common.

To begin with, the elephant is dear to both because it's their election symbol. I will not be surprised if they visited the zoo only to see the elephant. Life, for them, starts and ends with the big trunk.

While, Palin is aiming to become the first woman in the White House, Mayawati  dreams to become the first Dalit prime minister of India.

Though the racism issue has propped up a couple of times during the election campaign, it hasn't really been the issue. Mayawati tried to take up the issue more seriously. During the recent confidence motion against the UPA, a hopeful Mayawati accused the upper cast of being an obstacle on her way to the Race Course (the official residence of the prime minister).

Palin dismissed the public safety commissioner for not firing her ex-brother-in-law, Trooper Mike Wooten, who was involved in a child custody battle with Palin's sister. Mayawati doesn't miss an opportunity to get even at the Samajwadi Party bosses and its loyalists.

Records show that Palin first as mayor of Wasilla and recently as governor of Alaska was far from shy about pursuing tens of millions of dollars in earmarks for her town, her region and her state.

Mayawati has been under the CBI scanner in the Taj Corridor case and for disproportionate assets.

And finally, while the US elections have been scheduled for November, elections in India can take place any moment.