NEW DELHI: The ruling Congress party, which only recently got over its confusion as to whether three-time Congress president and well-known freedom fighter Madan Mohan Malaviya is a ‘centrist’ or a ‘rightist’, has decided to go hyper in declaring the Banaras Hindu University founder a “national asset”.
After getting Congress president Sonia Gandhi to release a “commemorative biography of Mahamana Malaviya” and a “commemorative book on Mahamana Malaviya”, the Madan Mohan Malaviya 150th birth anniversary celebration committee headed by Congress Rajya Sabha MP Karan Singh has decided to ask the states to name streets and parks after him. The committee also wants Malaviya’s statues to be erected in all states.
If the recommendations are accepted, the statues of Malaviya will be found across the country, including at his birthplace in eastern UP . The link between the immediate discovery of the freedom fighter’s significant role and the ongoing UP elections is quite evident. The Congress, which is desperately trying to win back the Brahmins from the BSP, wants to use Malaviya’s name to get to the community heartland.
“The Congress may be opposing Mayawati erecting statues in UP. But the same party wants Malaviya statues everywhere,” said a source.
Though the government had announced its decision to celebrate the birth anniversary of Malaviya early last year, there had been no momentum henceforth.