Hyderabad: A new statue of Mahatma Basaveshwara, a 12th Century social reformer, will be installed in the New Parliament building in New Delhi soon.
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), on a request from Zaheerabad BRS MP and BRS whip in the Lok Sabha, B B Patil, has asked the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs to take appropriate action in this regard.
Patil wrote a letter in this regard on June 5 to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla with a request to install the statue in the new Parliament building. The Prime Minister responded positively to the request, according to B B Patil.
“I got a prompt response and I hope a statue will be installed in the new parliament building soon,” Patil said.
At present, a statue of Lord Basaveshwara is located at building Gate No 9 of the Parliament House which is No Entry zone for the visitors tfo parliament due to security reasons.
Former President Abdul Kalam had unveiled statues of Chhatrapati Shivaji and Mahatma Basaweshwara in Parliament premises on April 28, 2003.
Mahatma Basaveshwara is a 12th century social reformer, statesman, philosopher, poet and Lingayat saint in the Shiva Bhakti movement during the reign of the Kalyani Chalukya/Kalachuri dynasty who ruled parts of the present day Northern Karnataka and Maharashtra regions.
Patil said since Basaveshwara holds a prominent place among the Lingayat Community spread over Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and other states, the installation would allow the community to visit the Statue if it was installed in the new building.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the new Parliament building–Sansad Bhavan on May 28.
The four-storied building has been constructed at a cost of Rs 970 crore. The building has been designed by Ahmedabad-based HCP Design, Planning and Management, and constructed by Tata Projects Limited.
Indian parliament houses scores of statues, busts, portraits of prominent Indians including Freedom fighters, Former Speakers/Presidents, and other personalities besides mural paintings. Prominent among them are Mahatma Gandhi, Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Dr B R Ambedkar, Chattrapathi Shivaji, Mahatma Basaveshwar, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Dadabhai Naoroji, Swatantraveer Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Atal Behari Vajpayee, C Rajagopalachari, Lala Lajpat Rai, Pandit Motilal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi etc.
According to official sources, there are 50 statues/busts (47 bronze + 3 Marble), 105 Portraits in the Parliament complex. The Parliament buildings itself have become a star attraction in the national capital.
