Statues at liberty

State's Third Front leader Ramdas Athavale wants statues of Dr B R Ambedkar, Sahu Maharaj, Mahatma Phule and other leaders to be installed in the seaIf the state's politicians have their way, the Mumbai skyline will soon be characterised by mammoth statues rather than the still spectacular Marine Drive.In the wake of the state government's plan of building a statue of Shivaji Maharaj in the sea, Third Front leader Ramdas Athavale wants the same for Dr B R Ambedkar, Sahu Maharaj, Mahatma Phule and others.The manifesto of the 16-party Third Front, called the Republican Democratic Left Front (RDLF), which is led by Athavale, promises a statue of Dr Ambedkar in the sea if their government comes to power in the state.Same pinchAthavle wants the statue to be built in the sea near Chaitya Bhoomi in Dadar, where Dr Ambedkar's last rites were performed. His plans include all the other amenities restaurant, museum, etc that the government has planned for the Shivaji statue. Even the cost will be the same. The price will be equivalent to that of the Shivaji Maharaj statue. The government is spending Rs 350 crore on the Shivaji statue.And Athavale has no intention of stopping with one statue. He told MiD DAY that if a TF government wins in Maharashtra there will be statues of leaders like Sahu Maharaj and Mahatma Phule. But, First, we will build the statue of Babasaheb Ambedkar, as he is the most popular leader. His statue will stand for equality, maintained Athavale.The statues of other leaders will be at par with this, he added. When asked why the money wouldn't be spent on the poor, he fobbed it off with a This will be liked by our people. Babasaheb fought for equality and is worshipped by everyone.Athavale's mainfesto also reads that if his government comes to power, slums erected till January 2009 will be regularised. His justification is, This won't affect the infrastructure of the city.u00a0These people anyway live in Mumbai as illegal occupants. With this measure, they will be turned into legal ones. The numbers will remain the same.India's Statue PoliticsThe recent politics of statues was spearheaded by Mayawati in UP. She has used public funds to construct massive statues of herself, Kanshi Ram and the BSP's election symbol, the elephant, at several places in the state. The spree finally came to a halt on September 11 when the Supreme Court rapped the Mayawati government for doing so.