Govt Insulted People by Removing Statues of National Icons from Parliament House Premises: Sule

The Lok Sabha Secretariat defended the relocation of statues of national icons to a new 'Prerna Sthal' within Parliament House, citing inconvenience to visitors due to their scattered locations. However, Supriya Sule and other opposition leaders criticised the move, alleging disrespect to the sentiments of the people.

Mumbai: Newly-elected Baramati MP Supriya Sule has accused the Centre of insulting the citizens of India by removing the statues of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Dr B R Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi from the Parliament House premises.

The Lok Sabha Secretariat has earlier said that the statues of the national icons were shifted and being respectfully installed in a grand 'Prerna Sthal' in the Parliament House premises as visitors were not able to see these statues conveniently due to their location at different places in the Parliament premises.

In a post on X, Sule said, "The grand statues of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Bharat Ratna Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar and Rashtrapita Mahatma Gandhi were removed from the Sansad Bhavan premises. This act is very infuriating. The people of India had installed the statues out of their love for these national icons. By removing the statues, the government has insulted the people of India."

"Nothing can be more unfortunate than the incident coming to light on the coronation anniversary of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj on June 6," the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) leader said.

Other opposition parties have also attacked the government over this move. The Congress has said when the voters in Maharashtra did not vote for the BJP, the statues of Chhatrapati Shivaji and Dr Ambedkar were removed from their original place in Parliament, and when it did not get a clean sweep in Gujarat, the statue of Mahatma Gandhi was removed.

CPI general secretary D Raja called the move a contempt of the ideals of freedom, liberty and equality, while Trinamool Congress MP Jawhar Sircar asked the government to explain why this was done.