A statue of Jawaharlal Nehru was removed from Balsan Chauraha in Allahabad and shifted to a nearby park in view of the beautification drive in the city ahead of the Kumbh Mela to be held in January next year. The authorities said that the statue was in the middle of the road which had to be broadened for the Hindu festival next year.
“Roads are being broadened for the upcoming Kumbh. In that course a roundabout at Baalson crossing had to be reduced a bit. This particular roundabout has 3 statues. Nehru’s statue was coming in way of proposed layout. Hence it was removed and stalled at same place after acquiring around 10 feet of space,” the government said.
The Congress party perceived the move as an insult to the first Prime Minister of India and asserted that it was an attempt to do away with his ideology. Accompanied by workers of allies Samajwadi Party, the Congress staged a protest and stopped the crane. They also raised slogans against UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Questioning why the statue of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay on the same road wasn’t removed, they said that they will take up the matter with higher authorities.
President of Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee, Raj Babbar, tweeted on Friday, “This is an injustice. This act cannot be condemned enough. The allure of power has made the BJP too arrogant. We will strongly fight against the insult meted out to great men and the conspiracy to re-write history.”
ये अन्याय है। इस कार्य की जितनी निंदा की जाए कम है। सत्ता के नशे में चूर है बीजेपी। महापुरुषों के अपमान और इतिहास बदलने की साज़िश का हम डटकर मुकाबला करेंगे। https://t.co/lW8sZaoWLc
— Raj Babbar (@RajBabbarMP) September 14, 2018
He also tweeted, “Statue of late Rajiv Gandhi was broken from PM’s constituency Varanasi. Pandit Nehru’s statue was lifted in crane to be shifted. History will remember BJP’s arrogance. We will not forget this pictures. This is our pain as well as inspiration.”
