he Election Commission's deadline to the Uttar Pradesh government to cover up Chief Minister Mayawati's statues and those of her party symbol, the elephant, expires at 5 pm on Wednesday.
The UP administration is caught in the middle. Officials ensured that only elephant statues were covered during the day, but they waited for the night time to cover the BSP chief's statues, away from the media glare.
Over 200 statues of Mayawati and the BSP symbol of the elephant were being draped in 1.5 km of pink polythene in Lucknow and Noida on Tuesday at a total cost of Rs 1 crore to meet the Election Commission's deadline.
This came hours before the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court hears a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the Election Commission's January 7 order. The petitioner has argued that the elephant represents Lord Ganesha and draping its statues could hurt religious sentiments.
The Election Commission had acted after numerous political parties complained the statues gave the ruling party an upper hand in the election season. The Election Commission said the statues stood in violation of the model code and must be covered till the elections are over.
The petitioner has argued that the elephant represents Lord Ganesha and draping its statues could hurt religious sentiments.
The model code of conduct states that the pictures of all candidates on public property must be covered during elections. The same logic would apply to statues as well.
Last year, Mayawati had inaugurated the 33-acre Dalit Prerna Sthal or the Ambedkar Park in Noida. Mayawati spent Rs 650 crore for the development of the park, which has several statutes of Dalit leaders.
The park has 24 pink sandstone elephants, 12 life-size statues of Dr BR Ambedkar, Kanshi Ram and the UP Chief Minister herself.
SOurce:IbnLive
SOurce:IbnLive
