NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday unveiled a six-foot life-size statue of late Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former District Cricket Association (DDCA) president Arun Jaitley at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, formerly known as the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, on the occasion of his 68th birth anniversary.
The statue was prepared by 96-year-old renowned sculptor Ram Sutar, the man behind the making of the iconic Statue of Unity in Gujarat. Shah said Jaitley was an outstanding parliamentarian whose knowledge and insights had very few parallels.
“He was like an elder brother to me. He was known for his sportsmanship spirit in political circle. He remained aggressive in his speeches but never lowered the dignity of the Parliament,” Shah said in his tribute to Jaitley, who had remained DDCA chief for 13 years.
BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, India opener Shikhar Dhawan, ex-India opener Gautam Gambhir, who is also a BJP MP from Delhi, BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla and Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri also attended the unveiling ceremony along with a number of DDCA officials.
Ganguly said Jaitley’s contribution was immense in the development of cricket in Delhi, though the DDCA has been in “turmoil” for some time.