‘Statues represent the will of the people’, Mayawati tells Supreme Court

Bahujan Samaj Party President Mayawati has told the Supreme Court that the statues erected in the State of Uttar Pradesh during her tenure as Chief Minister represent the “will of the people”..Mayawati has also pointed out various instances of other political parties indulging in such opulence. This includes statues of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi by Congress Party, statues of Sardar Patel, Lord Ram and Chhatrapati Shivaji by BJP governments etc..Mayawati was required to file an affidavit before the Supreme Court in a matter dealing with the use of public money to build statues of herself and elephants at parks in Lucknow and Noida..The Bench led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi in February this year expressed a tentative view that Mayawati ought to reimburse all the public money that was used to erect these statues. However, the Court did not pass any order in that regard and sought Mayawati’s reply on the issue..In her affidavit, Mayawati has stated that constructing these statues was the will of the people represented by the State Legislature, and she could not have defied this will. She further added that the funds for these statues came through proper budgetary allocations. The affidavit states,.“The will of the people was expressed by the State Legislature with a proposal to install the statues of the answering respondent at the memorials to show their respect to contemporary women Dalit leader who has decided to sacrifice her life for the cause of underprivileged communities. .…The funds for the construction of said memorials and installation of statues have been sanctioned through budgetary allocation after approval of the budget by the State legislature and the passing of relevant Appropriation Act (sic).”.She further submits that several memorials were constructed in honour of various Dalit icons and leaders with the aim of inspiring the people of the state..Mayawati also avers that she is viewed as a Dalit woman icon and submits that it was her decision to sacrifice her life for the upliftment of the downtrodden community that led to this “will of the people” to honour her. Speaking on her contribution to the Dalit community, Mayawati states,.“I felt that I should give up my life to espouse their cause in order to help them to raise their standard of lives and to ensure that these sections of society also get bare minimum as the citizens of this country. In pursuit of this goal, I decided to dedicate my entire life for upliftment of the downtrodden society and for achieving this I also took a decision to remain unmarried. (sic)”.Most interestingly, the affidavit points out details of numerous such instances of statues being built by other regimes including Congress and BJP governments..“During the Congress regime, the agencies of Central government and State government have installed statues of various Congress leaders including Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, PV Narasimha Rao etc across the country with public funds.”.Some other similar examples pointed out in the affidavit are:.Statue of Sardar Vallabhai Patel built by BJP government in Gujarat for Rs. 3,000 croreHundreds of statues of YS Rajasekhara Reddy installed by Andhra Pradesh government and local authorities headed by Congress Party.The announcement of installation of a 25-feet statue of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee by Uttar Pradesh government.Initiation of construction of a 221-meter tall statue of Lord Ram by BJP government in Uttar Pradesh. The State cabinet has approved an initial expenditure of Rs. 200 crore for the same..Responding to the objection taken to the installation of statues of elephants on the ground that the elephant is Mayawati’s party symbol, the affidavit states that those statues have been installed “as part of architectural design” for ornamental purposes and not with the intent to promote BSP’s election symbol..“It is misleading and incorrect to correlate the statues of elephant installed at the memorials with the symbol of ‘Bahujan Samaj Party’. The statue of elephant standing in welcome posture is an inalienable part of Indian culture and no parallel could be drawn between the statues standing in welcome posture and the party symbol. (sic)”.To further this submission, the affidavit states that not only are statues of elephants found in large numbers in the Rashtrapati Bhavan but an elephant statue also lies on top of the Speaker’s Chair in the parliament as a sign of “welcome”. The affidavit also lists various Raj Bhavans, temples, historical monuments as well as State emblems of Karnataka and Kerala, currency notes and University logos where the elephant is featured..Citing the historical and cultural importance of the elephant, Mayawati also adds that a number of monuments of historical importance like the Ajanta Ellora Caves, Konark Sun Temple, Sanchi Stupa, Chittorgarh Fort and the cities of Hampi and Mahabalipuram, among others, feature elephant statues and sculptures extensively. The affidavit also alludes to the religious importance of the elephant in the cultures of Buddhism and Jainism. Elephant statues and sculptures have also been found in temples outside India in places like Nepal, Vietnam, Sri Lanka etc. the affidavit adds..The affidavit also goes on to question the locus of the petitioners. It states that the subject matter of this PIL has not adversely affected the fundamental rights of the petitioners for them to be able to move the Supreme Court under Article 32 of the Constitution of India. The affidavit avers that the PIL is “politically motivated and is in gross abuse of the process of the Court”..It is also alleged in the affidavit that for political and publicity purposes, the petitioners have indulged in forum shopping by filing various petitions against Mayawati and her party before different forums..Read the affidavit: