A 27-feet tall bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi in a meditative posture will be unveiled on the premises of the Vidhana Soudha on the occasion of his birth anniversary on October 2. The statue is being designed and chiselled by noted sculptor and Padmashree awardee Ram V. Sutar. It will cost Rs. 11 crore. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will lay the foundation stone for the project in a park between the Vidhana Soudha and the Vikasa Soudha on Friday.
A statue of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri will be unveiled on Friday on the secretariat premises. Mr. Shastri was also born on October 2.
Legislative Council Chairman D. H. Shankaramurthy told presspersons on Thursday that the decision to install the statue was taken by a committee headed by him. Since the two secretariat buildings are 66-feet tall, the chief architect of the Public Works Department suggested installing a 27-feet statue on a 13-feet pedestal. The statue will face the High Court, he said.
The first notable work of 89-year-old Mr Sutar was the 45-feet Chambal monument at Gandhi Sagar Dam in Madhya Pradesh.
The idea of installing the statue was mooted by former Council Chairman V R Sudarshan in 2011.
The House passed a resolution in support. The High Court had banned installation of statues within the limits of Cubbon Park, which includes Vidhana Soudha, Vikasa Soudha, and Legislators’ Home. The authorities amended the Karnataka Government Parks (Preservation) Act in 2013 so that they could take up the project within Cubbon Park.
