Short Indian leader demands taller statue (AP)

LUCKNOW, India - She may be diminutive, but the fiery leader of India's most populous state has no patience for short statues of herself.

Mayawati, the 5-foot tall chief minister of the northern India state of Uttar Pradesh, ordered officials to replace a 12-foot bronze statue of herself with a larger one because it was 3 feet shorter than nearby statues of other leaders.

"Her statue was just a mismatch, so it was replaced with a bigger and a heavier statue," Diwakar Tripathi, a government spokesman, told The Associated Press in the state capital of Lucknow on Monday.

The new likeness of Mayawati on the banks of the Gomti river stands 15 feet tall and weighs 20 tons — the same as the three others with which it stands, Tripathi said. Mayawati goes by only one name.

Opposition parties in Uttar Pradesh, home to 180 million people, called the statues a waste of money. The combined cost of Mayawati's first statue and the one that replaced it last week was an estimated $950,000 — no small fee in a region of India notorious for its bad roads, spotty electricity and endemic poverty.

Mayawati, one of India's most visible low-caste leaders, has developed a reputation for grandiose public displays since her election last year, addressing massive rallies decked out in fine silks and diamond jewelry.

It's a persona that has helped win her the support of her fellow dalits, the so-called untouchables who are the bottom of Hinduism's complex social hierarchy and have faced centuries of often violent discrimination.

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