Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Tuesday defended in the Supreme Court the construction of life-size statues of herself in Uttar Pradesh, saying they represent the “will of the people”. Mayawati said in her affidavit that her statues came into being “as the will of the state legislature to represent the will of the people”. In an earlier hearing, the Supreme Court , in oral observations, had said Mayawati should reimburse the public money spent on erecting statues of herself and the party symbol, the elephant, in public places. “Madam Mayawati, reimburse to the exchequer the public money you have spent on the elephants,” a bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi said. “We are of tentative view that you (Mayawati) should pay the public money from your pocket,” CJI said.

Source: Hindustan Times April 02, 2019 05:03 UTC