Mayawati warns SP not to reshape monuments
LUCKNOW: The statues, parks and monuments built by Mayawati as chief minister are set to become a cause for confrontation between ruling Samajwadi party and main opposition party, the BSP in Uttar Pradesh.
This became evident when Mayawati warned chief minister, Akhilesh Yadav saying that “if any attempt was made by the new regime to disturb or reshape the monuments in the name of Dalit icons, the country would plunge into lawlessness”.
Mayawati was addressing a function on Dr B R Ambedkar’s birth anniversary at Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Samajik Parivartan Sthal in Lucknow. She reacted after Akhilesh Yadav spoke to the media after his meeting with Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh in Delhi, where he had announced that his government was considering the utilisation of 3,000 acres of park and monuments for hospital construction.
Yadav’s remarks were enough to ignite a mercurial Mayawati, who has is emotionally connected with her dream projects. She had developed a dozen such projects in her previous four innings as UP CM.
The statues, parks and monuments built to commemorate Dalit icons have become a symbol of Dalit empowerment. The masses, mainly Dalits visit these parks and monuments and perceive them as places of worship. There is no doubt that government funds have been spent in these projects in a questionable manner and any inquiry into these projects is bound to put heat on the government officials. CAG has already indicted UP PWD for wasteful expenditures.
The construction of statues, parks and monuments has been main issue in the recently concluded elections, as the Mayawati government has allegedly spent over `40,000 cr on them. Most of the parks and monuments having statues of Dalit icons and also of Mayawati and her mentor Kanshi Ram.