A Mayawati statue without a tarpaulin cover makes an odd sight. Then what is this statue doing, standing shamelessly uncovered in these election times? And what is the election commission doing, covering up every elephant big and small while leaving out this larger-than-life-size statue?

But then these two statues, of Mayawati and Kanshi Ram, do not need to be covered. They are not on any public place. They are not going to influence any voter either because few voters seem to have seen them.

If anything, these statues should be in public view, more and more voters should take a good look at them. Then they will know how Mayawati ruled for five years and what they can expect if she is re-elected.

Unfortunately the spot is not very accessible. No, no, it is not somewhere back of the beyond, it is right next to the national capital, in Noida, sector 133. But don’t ask for more information. It will be difficult to enter the farmhouse which is hosting the two statues. Among the guards and caretakers, it is known as ‘moorti farmhouse’, but nobody is sure if it is farmhouse no. 17, 18, 19 or 20. At any rate, the statue spot is in one of the four farmhouses, surrounded by the other three.

These four farmhouses are registered in the name of companies – Challenger Web Solutions, Sheshvata Infratech, Sapphire Infra Project and Experience Buildwell. They (as well as so many others) got these plots of prime land under what has come to be known as Noida Farmhouse Scam, worth Rs 2,000 crore (according to Kirit Somaiya of BJP). A PIL has been filed in the Allahabad high court.

The matter is transparently clear, because an audit report of the state government itself has found irregularities in the January 2009 allotment of residential plots blaming, in particular, Yashpal Singh Tyagi, the officer of special duty of Noida authority. Yashpal is a brother of Maya’s former cabinet minister Rajpal Tyagi and the grapewine is that he is close to the CM’s brother Anand.

The audit points out that the rate per square metre should have been Rs 17,700 whereas the Noida authority gave away this prime land at Rs 3,100 per sq m.

Now that may explain what these statues are doing in this farmhouse. It seems a grateful allottee has decided to erect statues of the great leader and her mentor, and pay obeisance to them every day.

Don’t you think the EC should do something to bring these statues to public attention?