On Friday HC stayed the unveiling; now it turns out the statue of Karchchana MLAs father was unveiled a day before A day after the Allahabad High Court issued stay order on unveiling the statue of Karchchana MLAs father here,it now turns out that the statue was unveiled on Thursday itself. Circle Officer (Meja),Sagir Ahmed,said that as per his information,the statue was unveiled on Thursday evening. There is no traffic or any other law and order problem in the area, said the officer. He added the plaque having details about the statue was yet to be put up. However,Karchchana MLA,Anand Kumar alias Collector Pandey,maintained that people had paid their respects and garlanded it nearly six days ago and the October 30 function was just a formality that has been postponed in view of the High Court order. The unveiling of the statue was to be attended by Speaker of the UP Assembly Sukhdeo Rajbhar,along with three cabinet ministers - Rakesh Dhar,Nand Gopal Gupta Nandi and Lalji Verma. The statue of Ram Swaroop Pandey,father of Collector Pandey,had been installed at Meja-Sirsa Road crossing,which is close to the National Highway (GT Road). MLAs father had been the pramukh of Uruva block from 1972 to 1995,besides holding other political responsibilities at district level. He had joined the BSP in 2004. However,one Ramesh Chandra Pandey,through his counsel Shailendra approached the Allahabad High Court on Friday with a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking a stay on the unveiling of the statue on the ground that it would lead to shrinking of the road and cause traffic jams. The division bench,specially constituted for the Diwali vacation,directed on Friday that status quo be maintained and posted the matter for further hearing before an appropriate bench on November 9. Collector Pandey told this newspaper that all permissions related to the installation of statues have been taken. I had applied for installation of the statue in 2009. The application went through various departments of the government and finally a no-objection-certificate was issued by the SDM and the PWD. The statue had been erected and installed on October 24. In fact,many people who respected my father had offered floral tributes that very day itself. The formal function has obviously been postponed in view of the court order, said Pandey.
