Faisal Fareed
Daijiworld Media Network - Lucknow

Lucknow, Jan 8: In a move that may well go down in history, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has ordered covering up of all CM Mayawati's statues in Lucknow and Noida. Even the stone statues of elephant which is the election symbol of Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) will be covered.

While the opposition parties termed it as their victory, the BSP reacted strongly terming it as a decision done without giving chance to BSP for putting its own stand.

The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) S Y Qureishi dropped bombshell in Lucknow on Saturday when he announced that all statues of Mayawati and elephant be covered with cloth. "It is necessary as no one can be allowed to be given election mileage. Even pictures of political leaders are removed from government offices. Model code of conduct is enforced strictly. It should be done at the earliest," he said.

The announcement created ripples in the UP's politics. Elephant and Mayawati's statues have been in eye of storm with opposition shouting that they are a misuse of the public exchequer. Lucknow has several parks and memorials with each having stone and brozne statues upto 24 feet tall of Mayawati, Kanshiram, their family members and other dalit icons. Hundreds of stone elephants greet as one enters the parks.

Later, national general secretary of BSP Satish Chandra Mishra told the reporters that it is being done in a haste. "Going by that, the lotus should be removed from every pond. Hand, the election symbol of Congress is depicted in stone at Chandigarh park. Hand is also used as a symbol at airports, they all should be removed. Even the schemes run in the names of Gandhi family should be removed," he said. It should not come as a surprise if the party approached court against the decision.