Four unidentified miscreants vandalised a life-sizestatue of former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and BSP chief Mayawati in aLucknow park Thursday, police said. The party threatened "direconsequences" if the statue was not repaired speedily.
According to police, four youths entered the sprawlingAmbedkar Park in the posh Gomtinagar area around 1.30 p.m. and attacked thestatue.
As the security guards tried to stop them, the youths pushedthem aside and struck the statue with a hammer, breaking the hands, ripping offthe head from the torso, and leaving many marks on the face. The purse in thestatue's hands was also ripped off and broken.
Before the four sped away on motorbikes, they left apamphlet in the name of Uttar Pradesh Navnirman Sena, saying they had promisedto break the statue on March 15, 2012 - the day the new Samajwadi Partygovernment led by Akhilesh Yadav was sworn in.
The act came in for condemnation from all political parties,who hit out at the state government for its "inefficiency".
Congress leader Pramod Tiwari questioned the law and ordersituation in the state and said that the incident was unfortunate.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kalraj Mishra also called it aserious and unfortunate incident, and called for immediate arrest of the youthsinvolved in the act.
The state unit of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), meanwhile,threatened the state government of dire consequences if the statue was notrestored on Thursday itself.
"If the statue of our leader is not restored today(Thursday) itself, the government should be prepared to face the fallout,"said Leader of Opposition Swamy Prasad Maurya.
The chief minister too issued a statement condemning theincident and said that action would be taken against those involved. He alsotermed it "a planned move by divisive forces to disturb the peace in thestate".
Akhilesh Yadav also ordered the restoration of the statue.
Police have, meanwhile, sounded an alert across the state incase BSP workers take to the streets to protest. Director General of PoliceA.C. Sharma and the principal secretary of home have discussed the matter withofficials and would hold a formal briefing for press at 5 p.m.
The statue was unveiled on July 25, 2009, by then PublicWorks Department minister Naseemuddin Siddiqui.