In an affidavit filed before the Supreme Court, Mayawati said there was nothing new about the statues and that public money was spent on them in accordance with the law. Memorial parks featuring life-sized marble and sandstone statues of elephants, Dalit icons and herself were built during the tenure of four-time chief minister Mayawati, whose last term in office ended in 2012. The Supreme Court had on February 8 said that it was of the tentative view that Mayawati should deposit the public money utilised for building the statues to the exchequer. She maintained that construction of memorials and installation of statues in India was not a new phenomenon. She was referring to the commission’s January 2012 order that the statues of Mayawati and elephants be covered during the assembly election.

Source: Hindustan Times April 02, 2019 18:33 UTC