After almost a decade, the ‘unusual’ statue of Maharana Pratap at the Fatehgunj Circle will be finally removed early next year, according to senior officials at the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC). Art and culture enthusiasts consider the statue, without his mount Chetak, which was installed in 1999 by Panchuji Vardhaji Memorial Trust, an 'eyesore'. They feel it’s a classic example of red-tapism, as just behind this statue, another statue of Maharana Pratap on Chetak was installed by another trust with the VMC as the nodal agency.Interestingly, it will be the second statue in the city that will be removed for aesthetic reasons. Earlier, the statue of Subhash Chandra Bose at the Race Course had to be removed after public outrage over Netaji's unusual posture. Sources at the VMC estate management department told Newslines that considering the importance of this 'evident' issue, decision will be taken soon, and by January 2009, the statue without the horse will be removed. But before that there is a chain of formalities to be followed, which will include discussion in the general board meeting, permission from the commissioner and also consent from Panchuji Vardhaji Charitable Trust. The new statue with the horse was installed by Maharana Pratap Smarak Samiti on February 15 last year.Interestingly, the old statue remained in the centre of controversy ever since it was installed. Soon after the installation, the bronze spear that Maharana was holding was stolen. The statue is located at a place always abuzz with traffic. Later, people also started commenting on the height of Maharana, which they said was too short and was looking funny without the horse and spear. “As far as statues in the city are concerned, the VMC is concerned about granting permissions for new statues and their maintenance only. But as far as Maharana Pratap's statue is concerned, the issue was discussed before Diwali vacations and a proposal was forwarded to the estate management department for further procedure,” said a senior official of the town planning department. Meanwhile, convener of the Maharana Pratap Smarak Samiti, Parakramsinh Jadeja, said they would soon get in touch with the family members of Panchuji Vardhaji. “We would like them to take an appropriate decision regarding the statue without Chetak. We are sure they would cooperate with us and the VMC in putting an end to this issue of having two statues at one spot,” he said.
