BJP, Cong. spar over unveiling of Gond queen’s statue in Bhopal

‘Statue has been installed by BMC without permission’

The Congress and the BJP hit out at each other after the latter unveiled a 32-foot statue of Gond Queen Rani Kamplapati in Bhopal on Sunday.

The ruling Congress said the statue has been installed without permissions while the BJP, which is in power in the Bhopal Municipal Corporation, hit back claiming the former was insulting people of the Gond community by opposing the unveiling.

The statue was installed on the banks of Lower Lake here by Bhopal Mayor Alok Sharma, though Congress Ministers Arif Aqueel, Jaivardhan Singh, P.C. Sharma and Govind Singh, named in the function invite boycotted the event.

Black flags shown

Congress workers led by Corporator Shabista Jaki protested at the site and showed black flags to the Mayor.

Ms. Jaki alleged the approach to the statue was made after removing several legitimate homes, while a road adjoining a bridge leading to the statue was being built on land meant for a Muslim graveyard.

Eyewitnesses said workers from the two parties came to blows during the protests.

Mr. Sharma said the Ministers’ names were included in the invite after their consent was obtained, while Govind Singh, Minister in charge of Bhopal, said he skipped the event as the statue had come up without permission.

“The Congress Ministers should have come. They have insulted the Gond community and Rani Kamlapati,” said the Mayor.