The Supreme Court of India pulled up the former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Mayawati to reimburse the public money she used to build her statues, political symbols in Lucknow and Noida.
A petition was filed by an advocate who contested that public money can not be used for creating statues propagating a political party.
The Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said that, “We are of the tentative view that Mayawati has to deposit the public money spent on her statues and party symbol to the state exchequer.”
The bench will hear the matter again on the 2nd of April.
The lawyer representing the BSP asked the court if the hearing could be heard in May after the general elections.
Mayawati was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh between 2007 and 2012. Her government approved US$ 1 billion for building museum, statues, memorials and monuments. In the process she built statues of herself and her party symbol which is an elephant.
(The Pigeon Express Opinion– India has so many problems like poverty, education, health and sanitation.. etc.etc. But our politicians haven’t set any priorities still. Recently, the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi inaugurated the world’s tallest statue. The 182 meter tall statue received heavy criticism, Conservative British MP’s said that UK donated US$1 billion in aid ment for social work, however India chose to build a statues instead.)