Lohia statue ‘unveiled’ twice: Once with Mulayam stunt,then ‘officially’

Equally adamant was the Lucknow police,which would not let them have their way and unveil a statue that was already unveiled. A scuffle ensued in which some SP workers received minor injuries.

Later,Yadav claimed victory,saying they had unveiled the statue in spite of the police attempt to stop them.

In the evening,the BSP claimed the statue was unveiled by hospital director R S Dube. In a statement,state BSP president Swami Prasad Maurya criticised Yadav for using a hospital for playing politics and causing hardship to patients.

Yadav,however,had his own logic.

“The statue was installed in 2007,when I was the chief minister. I was unable to unveil the statue as the model code of conduct came into force during the Assembly elections in 2007. We waited for three long years for the government to act. Then,last night,we decided to unveil the statue,” he said.

But when the SP chief reached there along with his supporters,the statue was already uncovered. A ladder was put against the statue and Yadav tried to climb up to garland the statue.

The police intervened and a scuffle ensued. The former CM even had an argument with the police officers,but they refused to budge.

Yadav then offered flowers at the statue and left. Later,he said party MP Bhagwati Singh was injured when he was hit by a policeman.

ASP (Trans-Gomti) Paresh Pandey said SP men were stopped because they had not sought any prior permission from the district administration.

“In any case,there was no question of unveiling the statue as it was not covered and had already been inaugurated. How can a statue be unveiled twice?” he said.

In the evening,however,the hospital director unveiled the same statue.

‘UPA not acting on garland issue’
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Tuesday accused the Centre of keeping mum on Chief Minister Mayawati’s garland issue by not ordering a probe into it. Claiming that the garland made of currency notes,which was presented to Mayawati,was worth Rs 51 crore,the SP chief said,“The Centre,which can conduct probe against Lalu Prasad Yadav,Om Prakash Chautala and Mulayam Singh,is not ready to look into garland case.” The SP chief also claimed that the second garland offered to the BSP chief a few days after the rally was worth several crores of rupees. PTI