Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Thursday swore off constructing any more memorials to herself or her mentor, Dalit icon Kanshi Ram. Instead, she said she would focus on development if voted to power again. “When I come to power, I will not build memorials, because my work is over. Now I'll focus only on development,” she said, adding that all such structures that were needed have already been built, PTI reported.

During her term as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati had faced the Opposition's ire for spending crores in public money on building memorials, museums, and parks, including structures of gigantic elephants representing her party's symbol. Referring to their criticism, she pointed out that her rivals now earned money from the tickets charged to enter the memorials.

Moreover, the BSP chief justified erecting statues of herself beside Kanshi Ram's, saying she was his successor and had dedicated her life to "realising Ambedkar's dreams and [the] welfare of dalits”. She added, “When this memorial was being built, Kanshi Ram said had Ambedkar been alive, he'd have been very happy. She further claimed that the statues of elephants were meant to be a “symbol of welcome” and not one idolising her party's symbol.