Congress slams govt over statues' relocation within Parliament, calls it 'unilateral' move

The opposition party’s attack came ahead of Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar inaugurating the ‘Prerna Sthal’.

The Congress on Sunday claimed that the decision to relocate statues within the Parliament premises was taken by the ruling regime "unilaterally" and its sole objective was to not have the statues of Mahatma Gandhi and B.R. Ambedkar that have been traditional sites of democratic protests right next to where the Parliament actually meets.

The opposition party's attack came ahead of Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar inaugurating the 'Prerna Sthal', which will house all statues of the freedom fighters and other leaders that were earlier placed at different places in the Parliament complex.

While the Congress has criticised the decision to remove the statues from their existing place, the Lok Sabha secretariat has said their placements at different places made it difficult for the visitors to see them properly.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said that according to the Lok Sabha website, Parliament's Committee on Portraits and Statues last met on December 18, 2018 and it was not even reconstituted during the 17th Lok Sabha (2019-2024) which also functioned for the first time without the Constitutional post of Deputy Speaker.

"Today, a major reconfiguration of statues in the Parliament complex is being inaugurated. Clearly it is a decision taken by the ruling regime unilaterally," he said.

"Its sole objective is NOT to have statues of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr Ambedkar – traditional sites of peaceful, legitimate and democratic protests – right next to where Parliament actually meets," Mr. Ramesh said in a post on X.

The Mahatma Gandhi statue has thus been displaced not just once but actually twice, he said.