New Delhi: Rashtriya Lok Dal on Saturday welcomed the decision of the Election Commission for covering the statues of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati and BSP's poll symbol elephant during the assembly election in the state but said the Commission should have taken the step earlier.
"The issue was raised in courts long ago that Mayawati should not install the statues of elephants as it is her election symbol also. We welcome the step taken by the EC and I think it should have happened earlier," RLD chief Ajit Singh told.
Singh was talking to the media on the sidelines of former UP minister and BSP MLA Yashpal Singh joining RLD on Saturday.
Yashpal is third BSP MLA who joined RLD in the last one week along with Hazi Yakub Quraishi and Shahnawaz Rana.
Yashpal, who represents Seyora seat of Bijnore district, was sacked from BSP in the last week of December.
Noting that EC had earlier said that no animal can be used as an election symbol, he said "earlier also efforts were made to change BSP's election symbol the EC had said no animal can be used as an election symbol and today everyone knows how aggressively BSP has used this".
Alleging Mayawati used public money to install her statues, Singh said the statues should remain under wraps even after the elections are over.
Replying to a query whether RLD, if voted to power, would decide to remove these statues, he said "elephant is just an animal. But the problem is different. The EC has ordered to cover these and it would be good if it is kept under wraps after the elections also."
Favouring a law to stop criminalization of politics, Singh said the "EC and the government had sometimes back said a new law will be introduced to stop criminalization of politics. That law should be brought at the earliest. If you think political parties would do some kind of self regulation, it is not possible."
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