Move arbitrary: Mallikarjun Kharge on statue relocation in Parliament

He said that “the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in a meditative posture originally installed on 2nd October 1993 in front of the old Parliament Building held immense significance for India’s democratic polity”. “Over the decades, this space had assumed sacrosanct value. Members of Parliament (MPs) as well as visitors paid their respects to Mahatma Gandhi imbibing within themselves the spirit of the Mahatma,” he wrote.

“In this context, I would also wish to draw your attention in regard to the statue of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar which was installed on 2nd April 1967 in the Parliament House precincts. The placement of Babasaheb’s statue facilitated seamless movement of people paying their tributes to him on his birth and death anniversaries. The location of the statue had also proved to be quite convenient vis-à-vis general public’s movement and security concerns,” said Kharge.

Kharge said that “the message which the statue of Babasaheb sought to convey was to extol the generations of parliamentarians to steadfastly hold on to values and principles enshrined in the Constitution”.

“I am constrained to state this with anguish that all this has now been brought to a naught in an arbitrary and unilateral manner,” he said.

He demanded that the “statues of Mahatma Gandhi, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar and other national leaders who greatly contributed for the unity and integrity of our nation must be relocated to their original locations with due respect and regard”.

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