Parliament: Govind Ballabh Pant’s relocated statue to be unveiled in Delhi today

The statue was the first to be moved out as construction for the new Parliament complex began on January 15

Freedom fighter and late former Union home minister Govind Ballabh Pant’s nine-foot-tall statue relocated from the Parliament complex will be unveiled on Wednesday at a roundabout facing the Gurudwara Rakab Ganj on New Delhi’s Pandit Pant Marg, officials familiar with the matter said.

Freedom fighter and late former Union home minister Govind Ballabh Pant’s nine-foot-tall statue. (Source: Parliament Archives)

Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri will preside over the garlanding ceremony of the Bharat Ratna awardee’s statue. The freedom fighter’s daughter-in-law, Ila Pant, a former Lok Sabha MP, will be the chief guest at the ceremony.

“We had spoken to the family of Govind Ballabh Pant and will be placing his statue on a road named after him in his honour with the blessings of the family,” a housing and urban affairs ministry official said.

The statue was the first to be moved out as construction for the new Parliament complex began on January 15.

Mahatma Gandhi’s iconic 16-feet bronze statue in the complex was last week shifted prematurely from its place facing the main gate to a space overlooking gate number 3. It is eventually planned to be installed just outside the current Parliament building, where Govind Ballabh Pant statue stood.