A seven-foot bronze idol of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi will soon adorn a shrine in the nine-acre farm that belongs to a Congress MLA, as a gesture of thanksgiving for the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.
Unveiling the prototype of the idol to the media at Bommaluru in the Vijayawada area of Seemandhra, former minister Shankar Rao said: “I want to build the temple so that people can offer prayers to Sonia Gandhi everyday, for putting the dominance of the Seemandhra leadership over Telangana to an end. I have donated nine acres of my own land in the Mahbubnagar district of Telangana and I am getting the idol ready with my own money.” He says that he has shown the idol to several Congress leaders and has got their approval.
The “Goddess Sonia” statue, to be cast in bronze, will be carved as “Telangana Talli” or “Telangana mother”.
It is to be installed in the farm’s “Sonia Gandhi Shanti Vanam”, registered in his daughter Sushmitha’s name, abutting the Hyderabad-Bangalore highway.
Ironically, the statue that weighs 500 kg, is being crafted by national award-winning sculptor Prasad, who belongs to the Seemandhra region. Work on the statue began on December 9, Sonia Gandhi's birthday. Temples built as tributes to political leaders is not an uncommon phenomenon in Andhra Pradesh, where there are even some temples for film stars and heroines.
In Rajahmundry town, there is a temple for Indira Gandhi built by local godman Ramalinga Sidhanti. In Krishna district there is a temple for film actor N T Rama Rao.
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