Gandhi uprooted to be removed from Parliament complex

KT NEWS SERVICE. Dated: 1/22/2021 12:46:52 PM

NEW DELHI, Jan 21: The iconic 16-feet statue of Mahatma Gandhi sitting cross-legged in mediation, placed in front of the main entrance of the Parliament House, has been uprooted and a giant crane was used on Tuesday to temporarily dump it on a lawn opposite the Lok Sabha Speaker's entrance (Gate No 3).
Its final destiny in all probability will be outside the Parliament House complex opposite the Rail Bhawan and the Parliament compound wall, in place of the 10-feet statue of freedom fighter Govind Ballabh Pant, the first chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and earlier that of the United Province and a cabinet minister in Jawaharlal Nehru government. Pant's statue has been already removed for placing it on the Pant Marg that connects Rakabganj Gurdwara with the Gol Dakkhana.
In case of hue and cry over removal of Gandhi's statue from the precincts of the Parliament complex, the government may extend its compound wall to put it within the complex, but it will still be in one corner and not at the commanding position it occupied, though the officials say it will be installed at a "prominent location."
The statue site was dug up last week, after demolition of the Reception Centre and security staff barracks behind it. The ropes were tied on its base, which was also dug up, to move it without any damage. Exactly opposite the Speaker's entrance gate is a parking location for his and ministers' cars while Shivaji's statue riding a horse is on its one side of the lawn and Gandhi's temporary abode on the other side.
The statue was sculpted by Ram Sutar (95), who has also designed the 182-metre Statue of Unity, the world’s tallest statue of Sardar Patel, in Gujarat. Hailing from Dhule in Maharashtra, Sutar has relocated himself with his sculptor son Anil in Noida, where they have put up a workshop to carry on their work of art. The statue was unveiled in 1993 on Gandhi's birth anniversary by then President of India, Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma. The Parliament House complex has 16 statues and busts, many of them made by Ram Sutar, a Padma Shri and Padma Vibhushan awardee.
Gandhi's statue has been a venue for demonstrations by the MPs of various political parties as also a site for the visitors to click pictures on their mobiles as it stood at a place that nobody coming to Parliament can ignore.
Though the original plan was to shift the statue towards February-end during a month-long gap between the two parts of the budget session, the Tatas wanted it moved out fast to make space for the new Parliament building, a contract for which was bagged by them.

 

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