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The relocation of the statues of Mahatma Gandhi, Dr B R Ambedkar and Chhatrapati Shivaji from one spot to another within the Parliament complex sparked a political row on Thursday with Congress leader Jairam Ramesh alleging that they were being removed from a place of prominence.
After Ramesh raised the issue, the Lok Sabha Secretariat clarified in a statement that the statues of leaders and freedom fighters would be relocated to a “grand Prerana Sthal” within the premises. The Lok Sabha said the plan was a part of the development works after the construction of the new Parliament building, which was inaugurated in May last year.
“Statues of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Mahatma Gandhi, and Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar have just been removed from their places of prominence in front of the Parliament House. This is atrocious,” Ramesh said in a post on X.
The Lok Sabha said the statues were not being removed, but relocated.
“It is clear that the statue of any great leader has not been removed from the Parliament House complex. Their statues are being installed systematically and respectfully inside the Parliament House Complex,” it said.
It added that after the new Parliament building was completed last year, an action plan for landscaping and beautification of the complex was drawn up in accordance with the “high dignity and decorum of Parliament”.
“Due to location at different places in the Parliament Complex, visitors were not able to view these statues conveniently. For this reason, all these statues are being respectfully installed in a grand Prerana Sthal in the Parliament House Complex itself,” the Lok Sabha Secretariat said.
It added that the spot was being developed in a way that visitors to Parliament could see them easily. According to sources, the statues will be relocated to a spot near one of the ceremonial entrances of the new Parliament building. Arrangements were being made to give visitors detailed information on the lives of the leaders.
Another Opposition leader, CPI’s Binoy Viswam wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to protest the move, terming it “unilateral”.
“The old Parliament Building, now called Samvidhan Sadan, was a living testament to seminal moments in our history like getting Independence, adopting the Constitution, providing affirmative action, abolishing privy-purses, nationalisation of banks, establishing Panchayati Raj etc. Your government turned that building into a museum by shifting Parliament to a new building. Now your assault on our collective legacy has taken the form of tempering with iconic statues of national icons in the Parliament House premise,” Viswam wrote.
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