Taking a dig at BSP supremo Mayawati, Union minister and Lok Janshakti Party president Ram Vilas Paswan said Sunday that her main purpose in erecting statues of several Dalit icons, including B R Ambedkar, when she was the Uttar Pradesh chief minister was to build her own statues.

Paswan's comments came in the wake of some adverse observations made by the Supreme Court in a plea filed against her decision to spend public money on statues of leaders, some of whom were linked to her party, and also on the BSP symbol of the elephant when she was at the helm in UP.

"Her main purpose was to erect her own statues. Installing statues of the likes of Baba Sahab was an excuse," Paswan said.

Following the court's observation that she may have to return the money spent on the exercise, Mayawati had lashed out at rival leaders and the media for distorting the judicial observations and expressed faith that she would get justice in the matter.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)