Parliament’s iconic Gandhi statue relocated to temporary home near LS Speaker’s office
NEW DELHI: An iconic statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the Parliament complex was on Tuesday shifted temporarily from its original spot facing the main gate to a quieter space overlooking gate No 3 of the Parliament building.
This gate is used exclusively by the Speaker, and leads directly to his office.
The shifting was done to make space for the construction of the new Parliament building, work for which started on January 15. Officials aware of the matter said the permanent destination of the Gandhi statue is planned to be just outside the current Parliament building, where a statue of former Union
home minister and freedom fighter Govind Ballabh Pant currently stands. The Pant statue will move to Pundit Pant Marg, which is named after him.
The 16-feet-high bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi in a meditating posture, sculpted by
Ram Sutar, was unveiled on October 2, 1993 by the then President, Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma.
The hurried shifting of the statue on Tuesday raised some eyebrows in political circles since the initial plan was to carry out the move during the recess, or the one-month gap between the two halves of the upcoming Budget session, which starts on January 29
Officials in the Speaker’s office said that Speaker Om Birla, too, was surprised at the hasty shifting of the statue, which has become the preferred place for Opposition MPs to protest against the government’s policies and proposed laws. During the last monsoon session, several Opposition MPs camped overnight in front of the statue to protest at the manner the farm bills were passed in the Rajya Sabha.
According to the officials cited in the first instance, the Public Works Department — the construction arm of the government — has for now placed the statue in the small lawn overlooking gate No. 3.