Statues built in UP represent will of people: Mayawati tells Supreme Court
Lucknow/New Delhi, Apr 2 (IBNS): Justifying her act of building life-like statues in Uttar Pradesh during her tenure as the Chief Minister, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati told the Supreme Court such statues represent the will of people, media reports said.
In an affidavit before the top court, the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister said whether money should have been spent on education or other purposes is debatable and not something to be decided by the court, NDTV reported.
The Supreme Court in February had ordered Mayawati to reimburse the public money which was spent on installing several elephant statues in parks of Lucknow and Noida.
With Elephant being the party symbol of the BSP, the top court had said public money can't be used for installing one's own statue or to promote a political party.
In a petition, which was filed by two advocates, Ravikant and Sukumar, in 2009, it was stated that then Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati's spending of crores of rupees on statues was irresponsible considering the number of people living below poverty line in the northern state.
Prior to the 2012 state elections, which was lost by Mayawati, the Election Commission had asked the BSP to cover all statues so that no party gets an added advantage in the polls.
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