Mayawati’s memorials a waste of money?
As chief minister of India’s most populous state and the country’s most influential dalit leader, Mayawati is used to getting her way. The memorials she has built around Uttar Pradesh are a testament to that.
The latest one is the “Rashtriya Dalit Smarak” (literally translated as National Dalit Memorial) in Noida, just across the river from the capital New Delhi.
Inaugurated last week, it is certainly an expensive project. Adorning the park are 24 pink sandstone elephants, the electoral symbol of Mayawati’s party, each reportedly costing 7 million rupees and about 12 life-size statues of B.R. Ambedkar (one of the authors of the Indian constitution and a hero among the dalits or “untouchable” caste), Mayawati herself and her mentor Kanshi Ram, each costing about 70 million of the taxpayer’s money, according to news reports.
Elsewhere in her state, a deadly mosquito-borne disease, Japanese Encephalitis, has taken the lives of more than 400 people this year, including more than 370 children, television reports say. A CNN-IBN report said only about 18 million rupees was granted to build a new ward for encephalitis patients in Gorakhpur in eastern Uttar Pradesh.
This may be comparing apples with oranges but then we would be missing the point completely. Which is how an elected representative should spend the taxpayer’s money? While a lot may have been done for India’s lower castes, including by Mayawati herself, and a lot more needs to be done in terms of health, education and employment, one fails to see how erecting giant statues of oneself and the party symbol helps any cause.
That the memorial in Noida ran into environmental hurdles shows that if anything, such endeavours cause more damage than good. Although the chief minister later claimed most of the money came from party funds and not taxpayers, building statues of oneself just seems wrong, for lack of a better word, in a working democracy. Shouldn’t erecting expensive monuments be left to monarchs and dictators?
Uttar Pradesh remains one of the poorest states in the country, with high illiteracy and child mortality rates. The state “has struggled with one of the highest infant and child mortality rates in India and polio is still endemic here,” a UNICEF report said.
Graft charges bite as Mayawati eyes polls
By Annie Banerji
While the government of India announced austerity measures in July to rationalise its expenditure in an attempt to meet its fiscal deficit target, the chief minister of the northern state of Uttar Pradesh didn’t seem to get the message.
Mayawati, popularly known as the “untouchables’ queen” for her championing of poor, lower-caste Indians, has spent over $4 million from the state’s contingency fund without budgetary approval on renovation and new construction at her bungalow.
This year, her government will spend more for her house, personal security and comfort.
In its recent report, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India criticised the chief minister for gross financial mismanagement on memorials of her mentors and infrastructure and irrigation projects, which led to a loss of millions for the state exchequer.
After three short stints in the country’s most populous state between 1995 and 2003, many have started pointing fingers at her governance at the end of her fourth term in office. The increasing crimes against women, Dalits and protests by farmers against the government’s land acquisition policy raised a number of eyebrows even at the judicial level.
“The series of events shows lethargy and lackadaisical attitude of the state government,” the Indian Supreme Court’s judicial bench observed against the manner in which her government proceeded in acquiring land in rural hinterlands.
Sorry for being blunt, but the greed of the lower caste is no different from the greed of the upper caste.
Looting the government’s coffers seems to be a very Indian phenomenon.
Statutes and statues: Mayawati gets Supreme Court nod for sprawling memorial park
Every powerful politician deliberates their legacy. For Mayawati, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh state and one of the country’s most recognizable politicians, hers will be set in stone.
Hundreds of millions of dollars worth of stone statues, to be precise. Ridiculed by some quarters of the media for her seemingly exorbitant narcissism, she was granted the right to continue construction of a 34-acre memorial park by the Supreme Court on Friday, after staring down mounting criticism over the size of the so-called ‘memorial’ budget from the coffers of one of India’s poorest and least developed states.
Dubbed the “Untouchable Queen” for her success in championing the cause of Dalits, one of India’s former backward castes, and turning their support into numbers at the ballot box, Mayawati has ruled over India’s most populous state since sweeping to power in the 2007 elections.
Mayawati was summoned by the Supreme Court in June of last year after her decision to spend a reported $425 million of state funds on statues of Dalit heroes, including herself, was challenged.
In January, after reportedly shelling out 60 billion rupees ($1.3 billion) on statues and memorials throughout the impoverished state, the chief minister tabled a state government motion to form a 1,000-officer strong statue protection force.
India’s highest court, which is currently deliberating cases pertaining to the liability of the Prime Minister in a $39 billion telecoms scandal and the extent to which the country’s privacy laws can be wielded by multi-billionaire industrialists, passed down its verdict after over 12 months of consideration.
Environmental groups have expressed their distaste for the ruling as nearby residents bemoan the “absolute waste of money”.
Mayawati’s public display of wealth or affection?
Garlands of flowers have been a standard greeting for politicians in India. Ceremonies and inaugurations with a political leader as chief guest mean more prosperity to florists than anyone else.
Most of these garlands get swept aside or badly crushed. But not the one recently presented to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati.
The several metres long garland made up of 1,000 rupee notes is now garnering scrutiny from Income Tax sleuths of the country.
Mayawati’s detractors strongly believe that this wanton display of wealth by her party subverts the tenets of the Indian Constitution.
What further stokes the anger of critics is the Uttar Pradesh government’s incapacity to look after victims of a tragedy while continuing to spend large sums of money on towering statues and party functions.
The chief minister had recently drawn flak from several quarters for being unable to provide compensation to families of as many as 65 people who died in a stampede after a temple gate collapsed in her state.
Many in the country, including leaders from opposition parties, suggest that Mayawati should be charged on count of misallocating funds from the exchequer’s coffers.
ys, so bhenji showed what is she is upto now as we can see there not so much development in UP’s villages so by wearing those garlands of notes showing as the party fund clearly shows mayawati’s boastnes about herself and her party
Much ado over Indian Summer?
Universal Studios has shelved plans to shoot “Indian Summer”, a film based on the lives of Jawaharlal Nehru and Edwina Mountbatten.(UPDATE: On Friday, a studio spokesman was quoted as saying “Indian Summer” is continuing to be developed but will not go into production until the script, budget and cast are all in place)Filmmaker Joe Wright, who was slated to direct the project, was quoted as saying there were creative differences between the studio and the Indian government.Many people are not comfortable with national leaders being portrayed on celluloid in any way other than flattering.Most leaders are interpreted by their followers in a particular manner. Any alternative recounting especially on celluloid runs into controversy.Biopics of leaders are few and far between in Bollywood in spite of it being a vibrantly political and prolific film industry.Some say the Indian masses tend to deify their leaders and hence are less receptive to anything critical.And celluloid is a mass medium more than any book on history ever can be.In Pakistan, the movie “Jinnah” starring Christopher Lee and sanctioned by the Pakistan government had also run into controversy.But does public policy also contribute to this state of affairs?The Indian Express says in a report that ministries don’t transfer records to National Archives “which leaves modern, democratic India’s history shrouded in secrecy”.Does this contribute to a lack of public discussion on various facets of our leaders’ lives and policies and therefore an intolerance of alternative readings?As for the movie “Indian Summer”, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting was to appoint a liaison officer to ensure the movie did not deviate from the approved script.Is imposing a government-sanctioned memory of events on people any different from Mayawati’s efforts to erect statues to herself?
@Gandhi’s called his works as EXPIREMENTS with truth. A very funny scientific statement.- Posted by Rohit– Did Dara say GANERU or Gandhi–I did not see? You always find a way to drag irrelevent stuff without telling why you are annoyed with anti-Mayawati comments. A specific rebuttal rather than an advise to read history would have been much useful.How do you know that Dara is not an ex-serviceman who has read history half- or one full generation ago and is speaking from personal experience in military and civil life unlike you.
Women wield power in election wrangling
With the wrangling for allies in earnest ahead of election results due Saturday, women leaders hold an inordinate amount of power in deciding who will form the new Indian government.
Women leaders have always had a role in the rough and tumble of Indian politics, from Sarojini Naidu and Annie Besant in the independence struggle to Indira Gandhi, the second woman in the world to become prime minister.
Women leaders are perhaps at the peak of their influence now, with Gandhi’s political heir regarded the most powerful of them all — indeed, the most powerful political leader in the country.
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi is credited with energising the party and leading it to a surprising victory in the 2004 election, and she looks to have the lead this time around too, according to exit polls.
Gandhi, once voted the world’s sixth most powerful woman by Forbes, walked away from the prime minister’s job in 2004, but her influence over party allies and even with the on-again off-again left is unquestionable.
Her influence though, doesn’t extend to Mayawati, the feisty and controversial leader of the Bahujan Samaj Party and chief minister of the potentially swing state of Uttar Pradesh, which sends a whopping 80 seats to the lower house.
Mayawati, hailed as queen of the lower-caste Dalits, is part of the Third Front, and a prime ministerial aspirant whose ambition mirrors her party’s elephant symbol.
Dear Tamil Nadu,
Jayalalitha in nothing in the world of politic.She is just a cinema actor with no caliber of bringing in foreign investment into Tamil Nadu.She is more interested in herself than the people.Ask yourself how much money of the tax payers she spend on so call adopted son,that`s your money.Why always choose a cinema personal to be in politic,why not try someone with good education background,knows about bringing in investment and first of all building a good pavement of roads in Chenai.Also build some public toilets around town for foreign tourist and wipe the smell of shits.
Should the Prime Minister be a member of the Lok Sabha?
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is not contesting elections to the Lok Sabha, the lower and popular house of parliament.This is for reasons of health and also because the constitution permits the prime minister to be a member of either of the two houses of parliament.Like Singh, we have had prime ministers from the Rajya Sabha earlier but they sought to get elected to the lower house and succeeded easily.As the de facto head of the government, the prime minister is expected to earn people’s approval directly.Mayawati recently took a dig at Singh over the issue.”This Manmohan Singh has not contested any public election…he was brought back door in Rajya Sabha and made prime minister,” the Bahujan Samaj Party chief said at an election rally.”If Manmohan can become PM, why can’t an educated Dalit woman.”This is possibly the first instance in Indian politics where the sitting prime minister has decided to stay away from the race.But should India’s prime minister be a member of the Lok Sabha?The opposition, after initially trying to make it a poll issue, now seems to have lost the plot.The question keeps popping up on internet discussion boards.FOR– Those who support the idea of a prime minister from the lower house say that a popular vote marks acceptability by the people as compared to someone nominated to the Rajya Sabha.– Such a person having earned the people’s mandate is seen as less susceptible to manipulation.– A person’s performance as an MP is seen as a necessary test of his competence and claim to the top job.– Some even suggest that a prime ministerial candidate should seek election with a pre-announced team, something like the shadow cabinet system in Britain.AGAINST– The most convincing argument against the idea is that the constitution puts no such caveat.– The upper house is seen as a talent pool where competent candidates are sent after consideration. This compensates for impulsive behavior of voters which can sometimes make “good” candidates unelectable. For example, Manmohan Singh lost the 1999 Lok Sabha election from the posh South Delhi constituency.– It is also felt that any prime minister would work according to the party’s ideology, membership of a house being irrelevant to his policies and performance.– Moreover, the prime minister is in any case indirectly elected (by the party MPs), so the argument of his having greater acceptance may not cut much ice.– Some feel that if the person is a representative of the majority party and competent then nothing else should count. Others say the proposal calls into question the very rationale of having an upper house, and therefore, needs to be fleshed out.One comment on the online forum points to the question being a moral rather than a legal one.There are two facts to bear in mind.In the Westminster system of democracy, a prime minister from the upper house would be an anachronism.Secondly, the constitution review commission recognised the lower house’s pre-eminence in its recommendation that the prime minister be directly elected by the house in the event of a hung poll verdict.As for the practical aspect, the Congress is contesting around 400 seats in these elections, and finding a safe seat for a politician like Manmohan Singh, the sitting prime minister, should have been easy.In March, opposition leader L.K. Advani raised the issue at an election rally.”Singh will be more acceptable to the people of India if he decides to fight the elections and go to the Lok Sabha,” he said.Did Advani have a valid point?
In a democracy based on one person one vote anyone including Mayavati can rise to become prime minister of the country. However, the requirements are – demonstrate leadership and competence, and earn the trust of the people.
Will Mayawati’s Brahmin card work this time?
Much has been written about Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati’s inventive politics that saw her forging an unlikely alliance between Dalits and Brahmins — from the two ends of the Hindu caste spectrum — to win an election in Uttar Pradesh in 2007.
She did this with a promise to widen the appeal of her party beyond her traditional Dalit voters and bring Brahmins and other upper castes into her programme of all-round development.
As proof, she gave tickets to scores of Brahmins in 2007 and appointed a Brahmin (Satish Misra) as her chief adviser and strategist.
The move paid rich dividends, securing an absolute majority for her party in a state that last saw single-party rule almost two decades ago.
It also bolstered the chances of her party in the general election. She began being spoken of as a potential prime minister.
But two years have since passed, and there is speculation that all may not be well with Mayawati’s social engineering.
A report says the alliance between Dalits and Brahmins could be fraying at the edges.
Dear Friends as I belongs to UP an I am seeing UP very nearly in past 20-30 years no development of villages as well. And only blame game is going on so at all I am not happy wit this government.and she also a dalitbrahman because she is doing same as brahmans hd done in past .she is only copying and when anybody copy and take revenge the person is not fit to rule.
She has no ideology.
And some f my friends have said that UP is developing so I would like to inform them that India’s growth rate is 7.5 % As compared to UP’s growth rate is 2.67% and it is only in western UP.
Thanks.
if mayawati really wanted the dalits to prosper she would put the money to good use in upliftment schemes not making statues of herself,.
what can i say my India dalit populationa nd the ppl also need to work againstdont they even have a little commonsense that she is wasting their money which could be used for creating employement and feeding the poor,.
i feel pity for the ppl of my country and the dalit population who can still let this all happen,.