http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Ambedkar_may_dwarf_Statue_of_Liberty/articleshow/2192678.cms
Ambedkar may dwarf Statue of Liberty 11 Jul 2007, 0000 hrs IST,Pankaj Shah,TNN LUCKNOW: UP chief minister Mayawati appears to be hell-bent on taking Dalit pride to new heights. Government's decision to demolish the Ambedkar Sports Complex has fuelled speculation that she wants the area to install a statue of B R Ambedkar that would be higher than the nearly eight-storeyed Statue of Liberty. The UP government is already hunting for an architect who will be capable of casting Ambedkar higher than the 46.05 metres Liberty designed by French sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi more than a century ago. The country's top architects have already been contacted and have been asked to submit their designs for building the statue. One of the architects confirmed he had been asked to submit his designs for building a statue. He, however, refused to divulge design specifications and the cost involved fearing losing the contract. "I am not sure whether the government has finalised as to who would be designing the statue," the architect said, on condition of anonymity. Sources also said that after the stadium is demolished the administration may order a private housing colony in the vicinity to be bulldozed too for Mayawati's fanciful project. The redesigned Ambedkar Udyan would then include the above area besides the Satkar Bhawan. A senior official in Mayawati's secretariat denied any such move. But another government functionary said that a statue was definitely being planned there. Whether it will be on the lines of Buddha's of Bamiyan or Statue of Liberty is unclear, he told TOI. The lease of the land on which Satkar Bhawan, a corporate guest house, is located, was surrendered to the state government in early June. The land was leased out to the corporate major in 2003 during Mayawati's last regime. Construction of the guest house had then cost the exchequer an estimated Rs 25 crore. While the structure would put the state capital on world map, the expenditure on such projects would surely raise the hackles of the opposition. The chief minister is already facing a strong criticism for allotting Rs 322 crore in the state budget for renovation work in Ambedkar Udyan. It is, however, not clear whether the statue would come up from the allotted corpus or from other sources. Mayawati's obsession with Ambedkar Udyan has been telling on government officials. She has already suspended as many as three top government officials for their laxity in its upkeep during the three years of Samajwadi Party rule. The BSP supremo often visits the park to take stock of the renovation work.
