Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar inaugurates Prerna Sthal

Vice President inaugurates 'Prerna Sthal' with relocated statues of Indian icons, sparking controversy among Opposition leaders.

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar on Sunday inaugurated the ‘Prerna Sthal’ on the Parliament House premises, where 15 statues of freedom fighters and icons of Indian history, including statues of Mahatma Gandhi and B.R. Ambedkar, previously established in different parts of the Parliament campus, have been relocated to a single location, amid protests by the Opposition.

Present at Prerna Sthal’s inauguration were Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Deputy Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha Harivansh, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, Minister of State L. Murugan, Minister of Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal, and Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. However, not a single MP from any Opposition party registered their presence at the function.

Vice President Dhankar said that the Prerna Sthal was “inspiring” in that statues of great national icons, including that of the late Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal, under whose mentorship his own political journey had begun, were in one place for anyone who visited the Parliament to see. “It is a rare honour for me that I was here for this function,” Mr. Dhankar said.

Mr. Birla, who addressed the press before the inaugural, addressed the criticism levelled by the Opposition. “None of the statues have been removed; they have been relocated. There is no need to indulge in politics on this,” he said.

“From time to time, I have been discussing these issues with different stakeholders. People were of the view that having these statues at one place will help disseminate information about their lives and achievements in a better way,” Mr. Birla added.

Opposition leaders, however, termed the shifting of the statues, especially the statues of Mahatma Gandhi and B.R. Ambedkar, earlier located at prominent places in the Parliament premises, as impacting the locations where Opposition leaders gathered to protest against the government.

Congress president and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, put out a statement explaining why his party opposed the move. Apart from pointing out that the decision had been taken unilaterally by the government, he also said it was an attempt to tamper with the symbolism behind the location of the statues, especially those of Mahatma Gandhi and B.R. Ambedkar, from specific spots.