Mulayam Singh Yadav gives a monumental reply to Mayawati

It is one more chapter in the battle royale between Uttar Pradesh’s ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) and the opposition Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), but this one has been cast in stone – quite literally. Almost unnoticed and with remarkable little pre-publicity, the SP will on Tuesday unveil the multi-crore Museum of Socialism dedicated to the stated ideology of the party.

That the museum, said to be the brainchild of SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, is being inaugurated on Dussehra, the day of good vanquishing evil, is not lost on observers. Nor is the fact that the formidable brick red terracotta tiled structure has come up bang opposite the Ambedkar Memorial, built by Mulayam’s bête noire Mayawati.

Clearly, both leaders are making every effort to outshine each other in this monumental game of one-upmanship in the capital of the politically powerful state, which goes to polls next year.

During her first stint as chief minister, Mayawati started work on the Ambedkar Park in 1995. Five years later, when it was Mulayam’s turn to be at the helm, he made the Lohia Park after socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia, a proverbial stone’s throw away from Ambedkar Park. In her next tenure in 2007, Mayawati demolished the Ambedkar Park and reconstructed it, calling it Ambedkar Memorial – housing the statues of Dalit icon BR Ambedkar, BSP founder Kanshi Ram and herself.

Mulayam had to come up with a solid counter. And the Museum of Socialism appeared to be it.

Interestingly, to make sure that there is no ambiguity and the party’s loud message reaches far and wide, the name was changed from Jayaprakash Narayan Museum to the Museum of Socialism. 
“Socialism is an ideology followed worldwide and an ideology is bigger than a person, although the museum is based on the life of JP (as the late leader was known),” said an SP leader, justifying the change of name.

Museum facts

However, the Museum of Socialism continues to be part of the bigger project, an international centre named after JP. Coming up on 18 acres of land, the under-construction centre is the highest building in Lucknow and designed by a Noida-based architectural firm Archohm Consults Pvt Ltd.

The difference between the Ambedkar Memorial and Museum of Socialism is in the statues, explained an SP leader. His party’s museum, he said, has statues of only JP, his wife Prabhavati Devi, Ram Manohar Lohia, Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. Mulayam and his son Akhilesh Yadav, state chief minister, can be seen inside only in their photos.

“Putting statues of living beings is not in our culture,” he said. The museum is one of its kind in the country, he claimed. Amitabh Bachchan, Kabir Bedi, Om Puri and Jeetendra are amongst those who have lent their voices to the commentary.

“Roughly 20 teams, comprising about 150 people, visited 20 places in India and 12 museums across the world before finalising its design,” disclosed Siddharth Bathla, the creative head of Design Factory India, the company that has conceptualised the interiors of the museum.

Red terracotta tiles make up the façade. Once you enter through an arch (20m-wide and 9m-high), you can either go down to the basement; one part of which has a floating pavilion. Or, up through the red spiral staircase to the galleries featuring different exhibits. The space incorporates a reading room, a library, a museum and steps, which double up as seats in an amphitheatre.

Truly memorial

Ambedkar Udyan (park) spread over 107 acres
Work started in 1995 when Mayawati was CM for the first time
In 1997, it was renamed Ambedkar Memorial
(Too much political upheaval during this period)
Mayawati opens Ambedkar Memorial in 2003. She is still CM
Mulayam is CM from 2003-2007
During this time, he builds Lohia Park 
In 2007, Maya again becomes CM and rebuilds Ambedkar Memorial. It opens in 2008