New Delhi:
Mayawati's numerous and expensive memorials have led to another reprimand by the Supreme Court.
On Friday, the court said it wants more information on how the UP government is funding the construction of parks being built as memorials by Maywati to Dalit leaders, including herself.
The court says it is not satisfied with the government's explanation. In an affidavit, the government justified the expenditure (reported to be more than 2000 crores) by saying the UP assembly had sanctioned the spending. But the court seems to have rejected this, thundering, " Can you divert 80 percent of funds to this (memorials and statues)? Whether it is a decision of legislature or cabinet both are same". The government now has to clarify its stand on the 29th of this month.
Mayawati's penchant for statues has led her into considerable legal trouble. Yet, on Thursday, she remained defiant, publicly warning that if dalit memorials were stopped, there would be a law and order problem. Her threat came just hours after her own government apologised to the Supreme Court for Mayawati's numerous and expensive memorials.
The Supreme Court had stopped Mayawati's government from constructing memorials, to Dalit leaders, including herself in Lucknow. The order was issued on September 8. Uttar Pradesh officials accepted this, but media reports, including one by NDTV, caught the government red-handed, continuing with the work at these parks.
A furious Supreme Court slammed Uttar Pradesh, asking her government "not to play with fire." That seemed to do the trick. Within hours, the parks were emptied, construction workers disappeared. The Supreme Court has said tax payers money cannot be spent without appropriate budgets and documentation.
In an affidavit sent to the Supreme Court on Thursday, Chief Secretary Atul Kumar Gupta wrote, "It is respectfully submitted that if any transgression has occurred, I tender an apology for the same, and humbly submit that (if any transgression has happened), the same was entirely unintended."
But at her rally just a few hours later, Mayawati expressed no regrets, arguing that the Congress also spends crores on memorials. She highlighted the Rs 350-crore statue of Shivaji that the Congress government wants to build off Mumbai's Marine Drive.