Mayawati pulls down her ‘small’ statue

BY Amita Verma

Lucknow

June 2: Barely 45 days after it was unveiled with much fanfare, UP chief minister got her own statue removed from the Samajik Parivartan Pratik Sthal because it found it too "small" for her liking.

The statue was removed in the cover of darkness on Sunday night in an operation that lasted barely an hour. Electricity in the Gomti Nagar area was switched off to ensure that the operation did not attract undue attention.

None of the officials were willing to comment on the issue but one officer admitted that Ms Mayawati did not like the expressions on the face of her statue. "She was not too happy with the fact that the statue seemed rather short when placed next to her mentor late Kanshi Ram. Very soon, a new bronze statue of the CM will be put up at the same place with required changes. Ms Mayawati’s new statue will definitely be taller," the officer said.

The chief minister had unveiled four statues on the Gandhi Setu that leads to the Ambedkar Memorial on April 14. On one side of the bridge, stand the statues of Dr Ambedkar and his wife while on the opposite side are statues of late Kanshi Ram and Mayawati.