My story Troubled Galaxy Destroyed dreams: UP POLLS The Statue Of Limitations The EC directive helps cover up Maya’s statues, but will it really hurt her image? SHARAT PRADHAN

Saturday, January 14, 2012

UP POLLS The Statue Of Limitations The EC directive helps cover up Maya’s statues, but will it really hurt her image? SHARAT PRADHAN

SANJAY RAWAT

Truncated! Operation cover-up at the Prerna Sthal in Noida, UP

UP POLLS

The Statue Of Limitations

The EC directive helps cover up Maya's statues, but will it really hurt her image?

SHARAT PRADHAN

http://outlookindia.com/article.aspx?279571

Five years ago, when Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati went on her statue installation and memorial building spree—allocating thousands of crores to those dream projects—little would she have imagined that a day would come when each of these would be put under a veil. The statues and memorials that came up in defiance of restrictions imposed by the high court, only to be repeatedly overruled by the apex court, could not withstand the directive of the Election Commission. The EC was acting on complaints filed by opposition parties.

But will this move impact Mayawati in any way? Political analyst P.C. Tandon feels "the EC move could be a blessing in disguise for Mayawati, who would use this as a card to ensure a re-consolidation of her Dalit votebank." Already her close ring of confidants are crying foul. Says one of them, "The manner in which all this has been done clearly suggests that the day is not far when the opposition will try to even cause damage to the statues of other great social reformers who devoted their lives to the upliftment of the Dalits and other downtrodden castes." Clearly, notwithstanding the Election Commission's claims that its diktat was only in pursuance of its mandate of ensuring a level playing field, Mayawati is all set to twist it to the BSP's advantage.

Mayawati has, in a statement, already dismissed the EC order as not only "unfair" but also as a reflection of its bias against Dalits. She also said, "Give me another example where statues of any political party's ideologue or leader were ordered to be covered in the larger interest of free and fair polls." According to her, "the order is specific only to BSP leaders and icons."


	"Will the EC remove all cycles on the road as they are the SP's symbol, or hide lotuses in ponds, the BJP's symbol?"

What has irked a lot of BSP supporters is the covering of statues of elephants, because it is her party symbol. Party leaders describe this justification as "ridiculous". Asks a BSP leader: "Going by that logic, will the Election Commission remove all bicycles on the road because that is the SP's symbol, ban people from raising their hands because the hand is the symbol of the Congress, and hide all lotuses in every pond since that is the BJP's symbol?" This is a point which had earlier been articulated by BSP spokesperson Satish Mishra.

Rest assured, Mayawati will be raising the unfairness of it all before the electorate. And she will find many sympathisers, particularly from among her Dalit supporters sitting on the fence, disillusioned by her despotic ways and uncharitable disposition towards the commoner and ready to switch loyalties to another political dispensation.

While her statues have been hidden from public gaze for as long as the election model code of conduct is in force, Mayawati's general demeanour has not changed. With an overpowering security paranoia, she prefers the confines of her ivory towers, making herself inaccessible. Be it ministers, legislators, bureaucrats or other functionaries.

As for the average citizen, he sees the covering of the statues as a wasted exercise. In fact, the general consensus in Lucknow is that the operation has only focused attention on what people had learnt to ignore. Besides, the `1 crore spent on the 'cover-up' is seen as a waste of public money. However one looks at it, veiling the statues can do Mayawati no harm.

TEXT SIZE