Maya's demolition drive: Next target Lucknow jail

There seems to be no end to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati's demolition drive. Mayawati's gaze is now on the Lucknow jail, and soon it will be a pile of rubble.

On Mayawati's orders, 139 buildings have already been razed. The Supreme Court has given the go-ahead for the jail's demolition but her government has to promise that no statues will be built there.

But many believe that the 195 acres of the jail premises will be part of her pet project, the Kanshi Ram Memorial. Any dissenting voice, and Mayawati is ready with the Dalit card.

"The Opposition is clearly just showing its casteist bent. It shows what they think of Dalit gurus and leaders," said Mayawati.

But protests against Mayawati's demolition drive are led by Dalit youths. An entire Dalit colony in Lucknow was razed to the ground without any reason.

In the last two years, the Ambedkar stadium, the Ambedkar library too have hit the ground. Also, many of her opponents' bungalows like those of Lalji Tandon and Azam Khan on Lucknow's posh Mall Avenue are gone.

"So now Mall Avenue can be called Maya Avenue," said Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh.

There is a rude haste to redesign the historically lush 'City of the Nawabs'. Mayawati is in a hurry to leave her mark, that too set in stone.

"This time we should make the memorial so solid that we don't have to worry about maintenance, so that it can survive for several thousand years," said Mayawati.

So number 140, the Lucknow Jail, is all but gone. How many more will there be?