The Congress party today slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the relocation of statues of Mahatma Gandhi, Dr BR Ambedkar, Chhatrapati Shivaji, and others within the Parliament premises. The statues were moved as part of a landscaping effort linked to the ongoing redevelopment project.

Statues of tribal leader Birsa Munda and warrior king Maharana Pratap were also relocated to a lawn between the old Parliament building and the Parliament library. Now, all the statues on the Parliament campus are situated in the same area. The Congress party condemned the move as “atrocious.”

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh wrote on X, “Statues of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Mahatma Gandhi, and Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar have just been removed from their places of prominence in front of the Parliament House. This is atrocious.”

Another Congress leader Pawan Khera said that when voters from Maharashtra did not favour the party, the statues of Shivaji and Ambedkar were removed from their original place in Parliament. When the BJP did not get a clean sweep in Gujarat, they moved the statue of Mahatma Gandhi from its original place in the Parliament.

He alleged, “When Ayodhya defeated the BJP, these people started abusing the Ram devotees.”

“When they [BJP] did not get 26/26 seats in Gujarat, they removed the statue of Mahatma Gandhi from its original place in Parliament. Just think, if we had given them 400 seats, would they have spared the Constitution?” Khera added.

In another post on X, he said, “When Maharashtra voters did not vote for BJP, the statues of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Baba Saheb Ambedkar were removed from their original place in Parliament.”

Khera’s statement was a dig at the ruling Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra. The alliance, which includes the BJP, Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and the NCP headed by Ajit Pawar, won 17 out of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state, while the MVA, comprising the Congress, Shiv Sena-UBT, and NCP-SP, won 30 seats.

Nationally, at 240, the BJP’s tally was significantly lower than its 2019 count of 303 seats and the 282 seats it won in 2014. Conversely, the Congress saw substantial growth, winning 99 seats compared to 52 in 2019 and 44 in 2014.

The Parliament premises are undergoing a redevelopment project in preparation for the inaugural session of the newly elected MPs. By June, the Parliament will feature a new look, with ongoing work to integrate the entire complex, consisting of four different buildings. As part of this redevelopment, statues of national icons, including Gandhi, Shivaji, and Mahatma Jyotiba Phule were moved to a lawn near Gate No. 5 of the old Parliament building, now named Samvidhan Sadan.

The statues were relocated to create a grand lawn in front of Gaja Dwar, the entrance used by the President and Prime Minister to enter the new Parliament building.