Mayawati statue spree to continue

Mayawati has unveiled several statues of herself (Pic: Kumar Prithvi)

India's Supreme Court has declined to stop the building of statues of the politician Mayawati and her allies.

The court said it could not intervene unless there was evidence of misuse of public money on the part of the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh state.

Ms Mayawati, a low-caste Dalit - formerly "untouchable" - is an icon for India's 160m low-caste Hindus.

She is accused of self-glorification by her critics. But she accuses her opponents of conspiring against her.

Legal experts say that Friday's decision is a major relief for Ms Mayawati's plans to continue major building works.

She is building several statues of herself, her political mentors and elephants- the symbol of her party.

'No interference'

The man, lawyer Ravi Kant, who initially filed a petition in the Supreme Court a fortnight ago accusing Ms Mayawati of wasting public money and space to build vast statues asked the court to halt the statue building.

But the judge declined the request saying that the matter would be heard four weeks from the day the original petition was filed.

"If a democratically elected government decides to do something without misappropriating public money, there is little the courts can do," Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan said.

"If the cabinet has approved a project, we think the court should not interfere," the court said, refusing to interfere in the ongoing work for installation of the statues.

Uttar Pradesh is one of India's most deprived states, with a high crime rate and poor health services.

Ms Mayawati's spending on statues and memorials has been described as "shameful" by India's Home Minister P Chidambaram.

In May she unveiled 15 new memorials, including two of herself.

Statues of political leaders are generally put up posthumously, but Ms Mayawati says that belief is outdated.