Mayawati in hurry; unveils memorials, statues before schedule

September 18th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Congress Friday condemned Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati's comment that any attempt to demolish Dalit icons' statues will lead to a law and order situation, and said she "mocks the Constitution and challenges the Supreme Court". (The) Congress party would like to condemn the Uttar Pradesh chief minister's statement where she has openly, in a manner, called for civil war, party spokesman Manish Tewari told reporters.

September 17th, 2009 LUCKNOW - Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati Thursday denied her government had defied the Supreme Court order on halting all construction activity in the state. Addressing a rally during a foundation stone laying ceremony for a 70-acre eco garden named after the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) founder Kanshi Ram here in the evening, the chief minister trained her guns on the opposition and the media for what she termed as "distortion and twisting of facts".

September 10th, 2009 LUCKNOW - Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav Thursday said the Mayawati government could be termed "unconstitutional" for flouting orders of the Supreme Court to stop all work at memorial projects across Uttar Pradesh. Accusing Mayawati of having turned into an "unbridled dictator", he also threatened to get all the structures pulled down, once his party was voted back to power.

September 10th, 2009 LUCKNOW - Disobeying the Supreme Court's directive, construction activity of Ambedkar Park, one of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati's dream projects is continuing in full swing in Lucknow. Earlier on Tuesday, a Supreme Court bench headed by Justice B.N.

August 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Congress party Wednesday said that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati is insensitive to the suffering of the people of the state where 58 of 71 districts have been declared drought-hit. "Mayawati government is insensitive to the problems of farmers and common people of the state where people are facing hardships because of drought, Congress spokesperson Shakeel Ahmad told IANS.

August 3rd, 2009 LUCKNOW - Unfazed by the criticism over its statue-erecting spree, the Mayawati government of Uttar Pradesh has sought the assembly sanction for an additional Rs.556 crore (Rs.5.56 billion) for the projects, and in contrast sought just Rs.250 crore to deal with the prevailing drought in the state. Over the years, Rs.5,000 crore have been allocated towards Chief Minister Mayawati's dream projects since the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) came to power in May 2007.

August 3rd, 2009 LUCKNOW - Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Monday demanded for a budget of Rs 27 crore for statues at the Kashiram memorial and for other structures in the state. Presenting the supplementary budget, she demanded for an additional Rs 550 crore for her dream projects, which includes Rs 27 crore for new statues.

July 18th, 2009 LUCKNOW - Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati announced that her party would carry out State wide agitation in Uttar Pradesh on July 22 against the policies of the UPA Government at the centre. Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, Mayawati criticized the Center's decision to hike the prices of petroleum products.

July 1st, 2009 LUCKNOW - Seeking to justify use of state funds in erecting statues of Dalit icons in the state capital, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati Wednesday said the money earned from visitors to the memorials would be put to good use. "Since the monuments built to commemorate our ideologues would eventually come up as attractive tourist spots and would naturally make a lot of earnings through entry fee, I have decided to use all the gate money towards development of villages named after Babasaheb Ambedkar and Kanshi Ram," Mayawati told reporters here.

July 1st, 2009 LUCKNOW - Seeking to justify use of nearly Rs.3,200 crore (Rs.3.2 billion) of public funds for building grandiose memorials and statues of Dalit icons, including of herself, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati Wednesday said the money earned from tourists visiting the spots will be used for development. "Since the monuments built to commemorate our ideologues would eventually come up as attractive tourist spots and would naturally make a lot of earnings through entry fee, I have decided to use all the gate money towards development of villages named after Babasaheb Ambedkar and Kanshi Ram," Mayawati told reporters.

June 30th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Tuesday urged the Election Commission to serve a notice to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati for using public money to install statues, including of herself, in Lucknow. "We request the Election Commission to serve a notice to Mayawati on the issue.

June 30th, 2009 LUCKNOW - Defending Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati against the Congress' criticism, her confidant and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) national general secretary Satish Chandra Misra Tuesday reiterated that the drive to build memorials and install statues of Dalit icons would not affect the state's welfare schemes. "While undertaking the construction of memorials and statues, we are not in any way compromising with the programmes meant for the development of the state or for the upliftment of the poor," Misra said in a release issued by the state information department.

June 29th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Congress party Monday suggested Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati spend public money more on people's welfare than for putting up memorials and statues, including of herself. "Mayawati has been lavishly spending public money on building memorials and statues.

June 26th, 2009 LUCKNOW - Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati is facing flak from Congress leader Digvijay Singh and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav for unveiling a series of statues, memorials and parks across the state. He said this while speaking to media persons at New Delhi on Friday.

June 24th, 2009 LUCKNOW - Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mayawati, will unveil 40 statues, including six of her own, in the state on July 3. The statues will be unveiled along with the Kanshi Ram Memorial and the Gautam Buddhasthals.