Under the Election Commission's orders, the Uttar Pradesh administration on Sunday started draping statues of Chief Minister Mayawati and elephant, the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party's symbol in Noida.
“I have got the EC orders and it will be fully executed tomorrow [Monday],” Lucknow District Magistrate Anil Sagar said. The work is likely to be executed by the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA).
BSP cadre remove cover
Official sources said the statues of BSP's symbol, elephants, erected under a fountain in Samajik Parivartan Sthal at Gomti Nagar in Lucknow were covered this afternoon, though some BSP activists removed the veil within minutes.
The EC on Saturday ordered that all statues of Mayawati and her party symbol installed at several places in U.P. be covered until the Assembly polls were over in the State.
One of the places where the covering of the statues has begun is the controversial Noida memorial park on the Delhi's outskirts that was inaugurated by Mayawati in October last year amid much fanfare.
The memorial, which drew much criticism from political parties across the spectrum, is meant to honour Dalit icons and has over two dozen huge statues of Mayawati, her mentor Kanshi Ram, and B R Ambedkar, among others.
Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi said the directive should be implemented “at the earliest” as the matter related to the model code of conduct.
The ruling BSP has termed the order “one-sided and against natural justice.“
Taking exception to the EC's order, the JD(U) and the CPI said it would give rise to several complications.
