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Money for statues should have
been used for the poor: Congress New
Delhi: The Congress party on Monday said the money used for installing statues
of Dalit icons by Uttar Pradesh's Chief Minister Mayawati could have been used
for upliftment of the poor and backwards in the state. Stating that the party
was not against installing statues of national heroes, Congress said, but it was
against "overdoing" it. "We feel the money (spent on statues) could have been
used for upliftment of the poor and backwards in the state," Shakeel Ahmed, Congress
spokesman said in the national capital. "We are not against memorials for national
heroes...But when it is overdone, it becomes problematic," Ahmed added. Meanwhile,
reacting on Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav's comments of bulldozing
the statues if he could, Ahmed said this could be his (SP chief's) thinking but
certainly not that of the Congress party. When asked Congress party's reaction
to Mayawati's comments stating making Meira Kumar the Speaker of Lok Sabha would
not help Dalits, the Congress spokeman said: "If someone cannot understand the
importance of the post of the Speaker, what can we say?" Chidambaram
criticizes Mayawati for installing statues Top Sivaganga
(Tamil Nadu): Union Home Minister P. Chidamabaram has severely criticized
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati for constructing and inaugurating statues
of her Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) symbol - the elephant -- of herself and of Dalit
leaders of yore. Speaking at a thanksgiving function organized here to felicitate
him on his election to parliament and to thank voters for their support, Chidambaram
said the Rs.1000 crore spent on constructing the statues could have been used
to provide basic amenities to the people, as also for education of the masses.
He said that the 2009 general elections had proved beyond a shadow of a doubt
that caste-based politics as practiced by leaders in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar was
not welcome and had been summarily rejected by the electorate. Modern-day politics,
he said, had no room for caste-based politics practiced by parties like the Pattali
Makkal Kachhi (PMK). He called on the people to evaluate the performance of the
UPA Government, and if they found it wanting, they should "hammer it out of power"
in the next general elections. Advani
to undertake countrywide tour to galvanize BJP Top Bangalore:
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L K Advani has said that he would
undertake a countrywide tour to galvanize the party, which lost in the recent
general polls. Talking to reporters here on Sunday, Advani said that he would
undertake the tour to rejuvenate the party after the upcoming budget session of
parliament. BJP faces an uncertain future after a heavy election defeat, as its
mix of Hindu-revivalism and promise of strong governance failed to convince its
traditional middle-class base. The BJP could not capitalise on problems such as
price rises after inflation hit nearly 13 percent last year, tens of millions
of job losses and a string of militant attacks, including the assault on Mumbai
in November. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has won 159 seats,
while the Congress-led UPA has won 261. |
