Mayawati dares UP govt to make changes at memorials, parks

Former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and chief of the Bahujan Samajwadi Party Mayawati today warned the ruling Samajwadi Party of dire consequences if any attempt was made to tamper with the legacy of the pro-Dalit party, namely the parks and statues built during her regime.

UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav had said the parks in the memory of Kanshi Ram and B R Ambedkar had vast land resources that needed to be harnessed, possibly turned into hospitals and colleges.

Mayawati, however, limited herself to real estate concerns at her Ambedkar Jayanti speech in Lucknow on Saturday, though there are other more pressing concerns for Dalits of Uttar Pradesh.

There was no mention of the incidents of arson and violence against Dalits in the aftermath of the Samajwadi Party’s election victory, nothing about the Dalits who had lost their lives in violence nor against the public excesses by the ruling party supporters.

In the run up to the election, Mayawati had repeatedly warned against the law and order problems that were inevitable if the SP was elected to power. Immediately after the results of the assembly elections in UP came out, Dalit shanties were burnt and Dalits killed in Sitapur, which has the highest concentration of Dalits in the state.

Responding to Mayawati, Akhilesh Yadav said he wanted to use more gainfully the 3,000 acres or so land which had been turned into parks by the Mayawati administration.

However, that the state government had other intentions was clear from the fact that 50 senior officers who were charged by the Mayawati administration with the maintenance of these parks have been sacked and attached to headquarters.

All the indications were that Mayawati, however gently, was trying to resurrect the morale of her cadres that were in retreat. The Ambedkar Jayanti address was the first step.