http://www.thehindu.com/2009/08/23/stories/2009082355070900.htm
National Mayawati statues to fulfil Kanshi Ram’s wishes: U.P. Legal Correspondent NEW DELHI: The Uttar Pradesh government has justified in the Supreme Court the installation of statues of Chief Minister Mayawati and Bahujan Samaj Party leader Kanshi Ram at various places, contending that a budgetary allocation had been made for this purpose. In its affidavit in response to a public interest litigation petition alleging that crores of public money were being spent for her personal glorification, the government said it was wrong to suggest that only statues of dead persons could be erected. The petition sought a direction to restrain the government from installing statues of Ms. Mayawati and elephants (BSP symbol) with public money and demanded a CBI probe into the alleged misuse of state funds. The affidavit said the statues of living personalities such as film star Amitabh Bachchan and the former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, had been erected. There was no dearth of statues of living persons, whether in the country or abroad. “Abroad we have wax statues of film stars, cricketers and other living personalities finding a place in Madame Tussauds,” a wax museum in London. The affidavit said Ms. Mayawati’s statues were erected to fulfil the wishes of Kanshi Ram, who willed that wherever his statues were put up, the statues of Ms. Mayawati, “his only heir, must also be installed.” It said a budgetary allocation of Rs. 294 crore and Rs. 203 crore had been made for works in parks in Lucknow and Noida, where the statues were being installed. “Money has been sanctioned by the State government through a budgetary allocation approved by the Assembly; every expenditure was authorised by the State legislature. The Department of Culture made provisions for Rs.194.2 crore in 2008-09 and Rs. 100 crore in 2009-10.” Denying that a stupa was being built at a cost of Rs.500 crore, the State said: “It was a wrong notion that the stupa, being built with other statues, will cost Rs. 500 crore. The cost of the stupa is Rs. 203 crore, and not Rs. 500 crore as stated in newspaper reports.” The State said: “The judiciary must exercise self-restraint and eschew the temptation to encroach upon the domain of the legislature or the administrative or statutory authorities,” and sought the dismissal of the petition. ------------------------------------ ---- INFORMATION OVERLOAD? Get all ZESTCaste mails sent out in a span of 24 hours in a single mail. Subscribe to the daily digest version by sending a blank mail to [email protected], OR, if you have a Yahoo! Id, change your settings at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/join/ PARTICIPATE:- On this list you can share caste news, discuss caste issues and network with like-minded anti-caste people from across India and the world. Just write to [email protected] TELL FRIENDS TO SIGN UP:- If you got this mail as a forward, subscribe to ZESTCaste by sending a blank mail to [email protected] OR, if you have a Yahoo! ID, by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join/ Also have a look at our sister list, ZESTMedia: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[email protected] mailto:[email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
