Lucknow, June 25
Pre-empting a stay order by the Supreme Court to unveil the statues and memorials built with public money, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati today hurriedly unveiled them without much ado and did not wait till July 3.
A resolution of the Samajwadi Party to observe July 3 as ‘Shok Diwas’ and offer condolences at the “death of the state government” across the state may have contributed to the action.
The Chief Minister unveiled the statues at a function in the evening. The sudden decision left senior officials in a tizzy. With arrangements to be made at multiple sites normal traffic came to a halt during rush hour.
Earlier, SP president Akhilesh Yadav said installation of one’s own statue while one was still alive was completely alien to Indian culture. “Still stranger is getting them installed at public expense and unveiling it oneself,” Yadav pointed out, adding: “Only an insensitive leader would indulge in such an ostentatious misuse of public money at a time when the state was reeling under drought like conditions.”
Yadav accused the Chief Minister of not only misusing public money to the tune of about Rs 10,000 crore, but also grabing 1,500 acre and chopping down 10 lakh trees for these monuments.
“The delay in monsoon has already caused much damage to the farmer. The state is facing acute power and water shortage. Instead of drawing up some plan for relief to the common man, the Chief Minister is indulging in celebrations,” Yadav said.
Two lawyers have filed a PIL in the Supreme Court challenging the state government’s decision of spending crores of rupees from public funds on the statues. The case is to come up for hearing on July 13.
