The relocation of the statues of Mahatma Gandhi, Bhim Rao Ambedkar, and Chhatrapati Shivaji within the Parliament premises has drawn sharp criticism from the opposition.
The Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh termed the shifting 'atrocious; and the leader of the Communist Party of India D Raja said the arbitrary and unilateral decision is condemnable.
"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 posted on the micro-blogging site ‘x’.
The statues of tribal leader Birsa Munda and Maharana Pratap have also been shifted to a lawn between the old Parliament building and the Parliament library. All statues are now in the same place.
According to officials in the know, the sculptures of tribal leader Birsa Munda and Rajput king Maharana Pratap have already been shifted to a lawn between the Parliament library and the old Parliament building.
"The arbitrary and unilateral decision to shift the statues of Mahatma Gandhi, Dr Ambedkar and Chhatrapati Shivaji in the Parliament House premise is condemnable. All statues in the Parliament House are erected in the honour of individuals who significantly contributed to our national life. BJP should find a way to shed its arrogance. They should be reminded that their contempt for the ideals of freedom, liberty and equality embodied by Mahatma Gandhi, Dr Ambedkar and Chhatrapati Shivaji, has just resulted in massive rejection by the people in General Elections," general secretary of CPI Raja tweeted.
The statues are being relocated as part of landscaping exercise and integration of four different buildings on the campus as the Parliament premises are being readied for the maiden session of 18th Lok Sabha. As per the redevelopment plan of open areas, the statues of national icons including Gandhi, Shivaji and Mahatma Jyotiba Phule, were to be moved to a lawn near Gate No 5 of the old Parliament building, which has been named as Samvidhan Sadan.
The head of media and publicity department of Congress Pawan Khera linked shifting of statues to Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) performance in Lok Sabha elections in two states-Maharashtra and Gujarat. He said that the statues of Shivaji and Ambedkar had been ‘removed’ from their original place in Parliament because people in Maharashtra didn’t vote for the party.
When they didn’t get all 26 seats in Gujarat, they removed the statue of Mahatma Gandhi from its original place, Khera stated.
“When Ayodhya defeated BJP, these people started abusing the Ram devotees. When Maharashtra voters did not vote for BJP, the statues of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Baba Saheb Ambedkar were removed from their original place in Parliament.Just think, if we had given them 400 seats, would they have spared the Constitution?,” the Congress wrote on ‘X’.
Relocation of statues will facilitate creation of a lawn in front of the Gaja Dwar, which is used by the President and the Prime Minister to enter into the new Parliament building. The lawn may also be used for official ceremonies such as the President's address to the joint sitting of Parliament, usually during the Budget Session.
Rajya Sabha MP of Trinamool Congress Jawahar Sircar said that the Government must explain the shifting.
“Who dared to remove statues of Mahatma Gandhi (our traditional protests site) & Babasaheb Ambedkar— from their hallowed sites in our Parliament compound? Has statue of Shivaji also been removed? Are statues of Godse & Modi coming up? Govt must explain!,” he also posted on ‘X’.