Nehru statue in Vidhana Soudha to be relocated soon: BS Yediyurappa

Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Wednesday informed the Legislative Council that former PM Jawaharlal Nehru’s statue will be installed in a suitable spot in front of Vidhana Soudha.

The statue was relocated to the North-West corner of Vidhana Soudha owing to metro rail construction work. The statue was earlier located in the lawn near the South-East entrance of Vidhana Soudha, where at present, the metro rail entrance is situated.

The CM's assurance followed a ruckus in the Council over the Nehru statue, with opposition leaders demanding its reinstallation before November 14, which is Nehru’s birthday.

"Since the metro work is completed now and the lawn cultivated again, the government will find a suitable spot here and reinstall the statue," Yediyurappa said in a written response.

The debate began with Congress MLC K Govindaraj raising the question.

"The statue was removed from the premises five years ago because of metro rail works. However, even after the work is completed, the statue has not been relocated. A letter was written to the then Chief Minister in this regard in 2017 itself. But until now, no action has been taken. It is the government's duty to give the respect due for our national leaders," he said.

Govindaraj was joined by other MLCs who demanded an immediate response from the government on when the statue would be reinstalled. The ruckus began when ruling party leader Kota Sreenivasa Poojary said the government would "look into the matter".

Taking objection to this, the legislators said the ruling party leader's response was just a way of stalling the matter and demanded an immediate response from the government on whether or not it was interested in the installation of the Nehru statue.

The ruling party members later assured that they had “the utmost respect” for Nehru and his contributions to building the country.