India orders statues of "untouchable" leader covered before polls

Jan 10, 2012, 7:20 GMT

New Delhi - Officials in India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh have ordered that statues of the chief minister and her party's elephant symbol be covered as they may influence voters ahead of provincial elections, news reports said Tuesday.

Mayawati, popular among India's 160 million low-caste Dalits, rules the country's most-populous state. She is regarded as their standard bearer, campaigning against persistent prejudice against the caste known as 'untouchables.'

Critics describe her as an egomaniac, and accuse her of wasting public funds on statues of herself and other Dalit icons in a state grappling with high crime rates and poverty.

The state's Election Commission said Monday the statues must be covered by Wednesday and stay wrapped until the end of elections in March, to ensure a 'free and fair' campaign, the NDTV network reported.

But officials had run out of plastic sheeting to conclude the 'jumbo cover-up' operation, and ordered 1,500 more metres, it said.

There are 11 Mayawati statues and 77 stone elephants, many nearly 5 metres tall, in parks around state capital Lucknow, 450 kilometres from Delhi.

Her Bahujan Samaj Party called the move biased and anti-Dalit.