BSP gears up for elections

May 25, 2016 12:00 am | Updated September 12, 2016 08:24 pm IST - Lucknow:

Her supporters have ordered 150 statues of Mayawati

Notwithstanding BSP chief Mayawati’s declaration that she will no longer install statues in Uttar Pradesh if voted back to power, her supporters will be banking heavily on her statues for campaigning in the 2017 polls.

A local sculptor has been roped in to carve out some 150 statues of ‘Behenji’ in her favourite pose to be installed at election offices and other places by BSP candidates in the coming elections for campaigning purposes. Altogether orders for some 150 statues have been received and work is on in this regard with the dye being cast,” said Amarnath Prajapati, the sculptor who has to his credit several of the statues dotting the state capital installed by the Mayawati government.

Each statue will be some three-and-a-half feet high and weigh around 40 kg to ensure they are portable. It will be golden in colour and made of metal and marble.

The statue will depict the former chief minister in walking mode, holding the purse in her right hand and scarf around her neck in her signature style. Prajapati, however, said that he has not been contacted by anyone from the party in this regard and the orders have come his way by individual buyers. The BSP chief, who has faced flak for installing her statues besides those of party founder Kanshi Ram at almost all the memorials erected by her , had recently remarked that she will no longer make memorials or put up statues.

“When I come to power, I will not build memorials, because my work is over. Now I will focus only on development,” Mayawati had said in Lucknow on April 14 on the occasion of Ambedkar Jayanti.

“My statue was installed next to his (Kanshi Ram’s) as his successor and for dedicating my life to realising Ambedkar’s dreams and welfare of Dalits,” she had said. PTI

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.