Public Spaces in Lucknow -the influence of power (page 9)

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Her birthdays are celebrated with great pomp and fare, and are occasions to ratify political support. Does this imply an autocratic bent of mind or a shrewd grasp of how visual culture can be manipulated to garner support, win allegiance and thus votes in a populist democracy? Maya wati did not personally invent the cult of Ambedkar statues that had begun appearing on the Indian landscape since the late 1980s with the support of BSP and perhaps even earlier with the rise in Dalit consciousness. The small stone Statues dressed in a blue suit and red tie, holding the Indian constitution in one hand and the other raised as if pointing the way to the future, proliferate in villages, towns and cities, their folk art aspect reflective of a grassroots' people's movement. About 15, OOO are Said to be installed in the last two decades. They are a visible Symbol of Dalit empowerment, an assertion of their newly found identity in Indian society achieved through education and political franchise.* Ambedkar, who from the lowly Mahar casterose to become the Writer of the Indian constitution that guaranteed equality to all its citizens in a democratic political structure, has become the icon of the struggle and achievement for Dalits, for members of Other backward castes and political parties that draw their support from them.

With the rise of BSP and Mayawati to power in Uttar Pradesh, statue installation of Ambedkar and other social reformers not only received impetus, but also monumentalised it. The little statue in the Small park has given Way to an ensemble of bronze statues in large-scale urban Spaces and in lofty building interiors in Lucknow, the state capital. This signals the transformation of Community-based movement to a state sponsored building enterprise with seemingly endless funds at its disposal. The insertion of statuary and its associated structures into elite urban Spaces in the city- heritage districts, medium and upper-income housing colonies, and along the main arteries of transportation- marks their appropriation by the party and its ideological agenda. This has not been without resistance though- a PIL was filed recently by the residents of Gomti Nagar on the ground that new construction at Ambedkar Sthal violated the designation of the site as part of the green belt in the Lucknow Master Plan.
(Continues...)

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