Congress On Prerna Sthal: Rajya Sabha Chairman and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Sunday (June 16) inaugurated the Prerna Sthal in the Parliament complex, where statues of national symbols and freedom fighters have now been installed, which were earlier at various places in the complex.
The Congress claimed that the decision to shift the statues located within the Parliament complex was taken unilaterally by the government and its sole purpose was not to keep the statues of Mahatma Gandhi and BR Ambedkar, the traditional sites of democratic protest, right next to the Parliament building.
This attack by the opposition party comes before the inauguration of Prerna Sthal by Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar. Prerna Sthal will house all the statues of freedom fighters and other leaders, which were earlier placed at various places in the Parliament complex.
While the Congress has criticised the decision to remove the statues from their current location, the Lok Sabha Secretariat has said that their installation at different locations is making it difficult for visitors to see them properly.
Statues removed arbitrarily- Kharge
Regarding the inauguration of Prerna Sthal in the Parliament complex, Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge said, “The statues of many great leaders including Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar have been removed from their prominent places in the Parliament House complex and installed in a different corner. Removing these statues arbitrarily without any consultation is a violation of the basic spirit of our democracy.”
He said, “The statue of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar was also placed at a vantage point, giving the powerful message that Babasaheb has been encouraging generations of parliamentarians to firmly uphold the values and principles enshrined in the Constitution of India.”
My statement on relocation of statues of major leaders in the Parliament House Complex —
1. The statues of many great leaders, including Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, have been removed from their prominent places in the Parliament House Complex and relocated to a…
— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) June 16, 2024
Jairam Ramesh objected
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said that according to the Lok Sabha website, the Parliamentary Committee on Portraits and Statues last met on December 18, 2018, and it was not reconstituted during the 17th Lok Sabha (2019-2024), which was functioning for the first time without the constitutional post of Deputy Chairman.
He said, “Today a major re-arrangement of statues is being inaugurated in the Parliament complex. This is clearly a unilateral decision taken by the ruling government.”
“Its sole purpose is to prevent the installation of statues of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr Ambedkar right next to the Parliament House – the traditional site of peaceful, legitimate and democratic protests. Mahatma Gandhi’s statue has been removed not just once but twice,” Ramesh said in a post on ‘X’.
Ramesh said that Ambedkar Jayanti celebrations in the Parliament complex will not be as big and important because now his statue is not there in a special place.
Apart from this, Ambedkar Jayanti celebrations will not be held in the same grand way. It will not have the same importance because his statue will no longer be in a prominent place in the Parliament premises. https://t.co/ECMbflEwBt
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) June 16, 2024
No statue has been removed- Om Birla
BJP MP Om Birla responded to Congress by sharing photos of Prerna Sthal on X and said, “These statues of great leaders of the country, revolutionaries and pioneers of religious-spiritual renaissance in the society were earlier installed at various places in the Parliament House complex. No statue has been removed, rather all have been reinstalled respectfully at Prerna Sthal.
Honourable Vice President Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar inaugurated Prerna Sthal in the Parliament premises. Through Prerna Sthal, visitors to Parliament House will now be able to bow to the statues of the great personalities of the country at one place and take inspiration from their lives, ideals and their contribution to the country. pic.twitter.com/9hiYxb2xY5
— Om Birla (@ombirlakota) June 16, 2024
The Lok Sabha Secretariat has said that Prerna Sthal has been built so that dignitaries and other visitors visiting the Parliament House complex can easily see these statues at one place and pay tribute to them. He said, “An action plan has been prepared to convey the life stories and messages of these great Indians to the visitors through new technology.”
The Congress has claimed that the idea behind shifting the statues of Mahatma Gandhi, BR Ambedkar and Chhatrapati Shivaji, among others, is to ensure that they are not located at prominent locations where MPs can stage peaceful and democratic protests.
