GANDHI SHIFTED OUT OF PARL HOUSE COMPLEX

NEW DELHI: The iconic 16-feet statue of Mahatma Gandhi sitting cross-legged in mediation, placed in front of the main entrance of the Parliament House, has been uprooted and a giant crane was used on Tuesday to temporarily dump it on a lawn opposite the Lok Sabha Speaker's entrance (Gate No 3).

Its final destiny in all probability will be outside the Parliament House complex opposite the Rail Bhawan and the Parliament compound wall, in place of the 10-feet statue of freedom fighter Govind Ballabh Pant, the first UP CM. Pant's statue has been already removed for placing it on the Pant Marg that connects Rakabganj Gurdwara with the Gol Dakkhana.

In case of hue and cr y over removal of Gandhi's statue from the precincts of the Parliament complex, the government may extend its compound wall to put it within the complex, but it will still be in one corner and not at the commanding position it occupied, though the officials say it will be installed at a "prominent location."