No proposal received for Suheldev statue in Ambedkar Park: LDA VC

A day after a cabinet minister in the Yogi government claimed that Ambedkar Park, constructed during the Mayawati regime, will also house the statue of warrior king Suheldev Rajbhar, the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) on Monday claimed that it had received no such proposal from the state government.

Om Prakash Rajbhar, minister for backward classes welfare and disabled people development, inspected Ambedkar Park on Sunday.

After the inspection, the minister said the Ambedkar Park would soon have a statue of Maharaja Suheldev Rajbhar, who is said to have killed Ghazi Saiyyad Salar Masud, the nephew of Mahmud of Ghazni.

“Till date we have received no such proposal from the state government. If in future, we get any such proposal then will act accordingly,” Prabhu Narain Singh, vice chairman of the Lucknow Development Authority, told HT.

The Lucknow Development Authority is responsible for proper upkeep of memorials constructed during the BSP regime.

Spread over 107 acres, the park has statues of several dalit icons, including Jyotiba Phule, Narayan Guru, Birsa Munda, Shahuji Maharaj and Babasaheb Bhimrrao Ambedkar.

Rajbhar heads the Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party, which is an alliance partner of BJP. He said he would take up the issue with chief minister Yogi Adityanath.

“Statues of other prominent figures from history like Maharana Pratap, Chhatrapati Shivaji and Maharaja Suheldev should also be installed so as to make sure that the younger generation gets to know about them also,” Rajbhar had stated.

However, BSP chief Mayawati is yet to make an official statement on the issue.

Rajbhar had also asserted that the statue of Suheldev Rajbhar would be taller than the statue of Mayawati at the Ambedkar Park complex.