According to reports, the President of Bahujan Samaj Party Mayawati had defended herself on the issue of erection of her statue and the party symbol which is an elephant in public places saying that these represent the “will of the people”.
Supreme Court in oral observations, had stated in an earlier hearing to that Mayawati should reimburse the public money spent on erecting the statues. A bench led by Ranjan Gogoi had said, “Madam Mayawati, reimburse to the exchequer the public money you have spent on the elephants. We are of tentative view that you (Mayawati) should pay the public money from your pocket.”
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The remarks were directed towards senior advocate Rakesh Khanna. He has been representing the leader in a 10-year-old public interest litigation (PIL) that alleged the misuse of public money for installing the statues. The PIL was filed in the year 2009 by advocate Ravi Kant and it sought a restraint order against the installations. He had also demanded for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe and also sought for the removal of the statues.
Rakesh Khanna had alleged that the ‘public money’ was spent to “falsely glorify” the then Chief Minister: Mayawati. According to the reports, the statues were installed at public places, at a cost of Rs 52.20 crore.