Yogi Govt plans to put up statues of OBC and ‘upper caste’ icons at Dalit memorial built by Mayawati

The Dalit memorials and parks built by former Chief Minister Mayawati, during her tenure, will soon witness new entries. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Yogi Adityanath government plans to install statues of icons from Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and also possibly from ‘upper castes’.

Cabinet Minister Om Prakash Rajbhar on his visit to the Bhimrao Ambedkar Samajik Parivartan Sthal (Ambedkar Memorial) in Lucknow informed about the development.

According to Indian Express, the Minister for Backward Classes Welfare said that two statues of Raja Suheldeo — the 11th-century king of Shravasti from Rajbhar community (OBC) — will be erected inside and outside the memorial.

“There are 13 platforms outside the Ambedkar Memorial. Many of them are vacant. A white marble statue of Raja Suheldeo will be placed on one platform. Another bronze statue will be placed at the memorial,” said Rajbhar.

Notably, in 2009, the BJP had openly criticised Mayawati government for the expenditures being made in building such memorials.

However, according to Rajbhar, the present BJP government would look into possibilities of installing statues of other icons such as Ahilyabai Holkar, Savitribai Phule, Daksh Prajapati, Guhraj Nishad (OBCs), Maharana Pratap and Prithviraj Chauhan (both upper caste).

“All these great personalities, who fought for the country’s freedom or worked for social causes, should be honoured. Their statues should be installed at different places in the state,” said Rajbhar – national president of the Suheldeo Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), a BJP ally in the state.

In April 2009, in order to create memorials for Dalit pride, Mayawati had placed statues of Dalit leaders at the Lucknow memorial. Statues of B R Ambedkar, Kanshi Ram and Mayawati were erected. The memorial also has seven feet tall statues of Ramabai Ambedkar, Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj, Kabir Das, Sant Ravidas, Jyotiba Phule, Birsa Munda, Narayana Guru and Guru Ghasidas.