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Congress seeks reversal of ‘arbitrary’ relocation of Gandhi, Ambedkar statues in Parliament
Congress Leader Mallikarjun Kharge said the move came without consultation and amounts to violation of the basic spirit of democracy.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar demanding that the statues shifted within the Parliament complex should be restored to their original positions, PTI reported.
Kharge, in two separate but identical letters, said the statues of national leaders have been relocated to a separate corner "arbitrarily" without any consultation and this amounts to violation of the basic spirit of democracy.
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Alleging that such decisions are made without consultations, Kharge, who is also the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, pointed out that there is a dedicated committee for installing portraits and statues of national leaders and MPs in the Parliament House Complex – Committee on the Installation of Portraits and Statues of National Leaders and Parliamentarians in the Parliament House Complex – but the panel has not been reconstituted since 2019.
The Parliament is getting a major facelift ahead of the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha. Several prominent statues of leaders, including Mahatma Gandhi and B.R Ambedkar have been moved to a dedicated place called the “Prerna Sthal” (a place of inspiration).
The place was inaugurated by Dhankar on Sunday in an event attended by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju among others. However, the plan has been opposed by the Opposition parties and not even a single MP from the Opposition attended the event.
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Statues scattered around the complex will be housed in the new area, helping to landscape the area and create more open spaces with the new Parliament building in focus.
The Lok Sabha secretariat in a press release said that due to scattered nature of these statues, visitors were not able to see them conveniently. The new Prerna Sthal is designed in such a way that visitors could easily see the statues of these great leaders and take inspiration from their lives and philosophy,” said the press release.
Both Om Birla and Jagdeep Dhankar have praised the plan, HT reported.
“As these statues were located at different places within the complex, it was difficult for visitors to see all the statues. Many visitors did not even know where these statues stood.,” said Birla, asking Opposition parties not to play politics on the issue.
Calling the work as praiseworthy, Dhankar said he was “very impressed to see that this ground reality will be done in such a grand way.”
The government's latest move to relocate statues assumes significance as many MP's staged protests near Gandhi and Ambedkar statues in the past.
Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh called the move as “atrocious”.
