Politics over statues hots up in state

Subhash Rajta

Shimla, March 4

Days after PWD Minister Vikramaditya Singh broke down while claiming that the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu government could not spare a small piece of land on the Ridge for the statue of six-time Chief Minister and his father Virbhadra Singh, Education Minister Rohit Thakur has demanded that the statue of three-time CM and his grandfather Thakur Ram Lal should also be installed on the Ridge.

“Personally, I am not in favour of installing statues, resources should be spent on the development of the state. But if the statue of Virbhadra Singh is being installed, there are other CMs also who have contributed a lot to the development of the state. I have a huge respect for Virbhadra Singh, but the statues should not be installed on a pick-and-choose basis,” said Thakur.

“Thakur Ram Lal has been a great son of the state. He became CM thrice, Governor once, and won Assembly elections nine times from the Jubbal-Kotkhai constituency, which is a record,” he said.

Apparently, Rohit Thakur has raised the demand for the statue of his grandfather after some discussions have started in the government to install the statue of Virbhadra Singh.

Incidentally, Virbhadra Singh and Thakur Ram Lal were fierce political rivals, who never saw eye to eye during their heydays. Even after their death, the political rivalry continues through their political heirs.

It’s not clear how far Rohit Thakur would push the issue, but HPCC president Pratibha Singh, the wife of late Virbhadra Singh, and Vikramaditya Singh seem very firm and emotive about installing Virbhadra Singh’s statue.

“It’s not just us but the people of the state who want that there should be statue of Raja Sahab on the Ridge. The matter was taken up with the Chief Minister several times, but there has been inordinate delay. It’s one of the reasons for our displeasure with the government,” Pratibha Singh said a few days back.

Amidst the clamour to erect Virbhadra Singh’s statue, Sanjay Chauhan, the former mayor of Shimla Municipal Corporation, says Virbhadra Singh was against having statues at Mall Road.

“Once we got a representation from a section of people to install the statue of BR Ambedkar on the Ridge. We brought it to the notice of the then CM Virbhadra Singh. He refused flatly, saying that the Ridge has a massive historical significance and it can’t be turned into a museum,” said Chauhan.

“Virbhadra had further said the state had showed its respect to Ambedkar by having a chowk named after him at Chaura Maidan, where his statue had also been installed,” Chauhan added.

Meanwhile, the BJP, which installed Vajpayee’s statue on the Ridge in 2020, refused to give its take on the matter. “I can’t comment on the issue at the moment,” said state BJP president Rajeev Bindal.

Currently, there are four statues on the Ridge — of Mahatma Gandhi, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi (installed in 1990), former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee (in 2020) and YS Parmar (1985), the first Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh.

In view of the latest development, several people are questioning how many more statues could be built on the fragile Ridge. “Already, a part of the Ridge has started sinking. Is it prudent to have to more statues installed on the Ridge? These people have made huge contribution to the development of the state, but why insist on having their statues on the Ridge? Surely, their stature and contribution would not get diminished if the statues are installed elsewhere,” suggests a veteran politician from Shimla.