The move of the Culture Department to relocate the warrior-horse statue from Master Canteen Square to Raj Bhavan Square in Bhubaneswar is snowballing into a major controversy with some organisations gearing up to embark on agitations opposing the decision.
On Friday, Congress members staged a demonstration near the iconic sculpture at Master Canteen Square demanding withdrawal of the decision.The agitators belonging to the party’s student, youth and women wings led by Bhubaneswar City Congress Committee president Biswajit Das held placards and posters and shouted slogans against the decision of the Culture Department.
"The horse is not a mere stone sculpture. This is the symbol of the Odisha Government. There is nothing smart in the city. Waterlogging is rampant in many areas; roads are in poor conditions in many parts and there are many other civic problems.
The concerned officials should focus on solving these problems instead of shifting the horse statue. A flyover can be constructed in the area without shifting the statue," said Jatni Congress MLA, Suresh Routray. “I request the Chief Minister to listen to the appeal of the people and cancel the plan to relocate the sculpture," he said. The Congress also submitted a memorandum in this connection addressed to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and the Chief Secretary.
According to the decision, the iconic replica of the sculpture of famous Konark Sun Temple carved by late Padma Vibhushan Raghunath Mohapatra, which is a landmark in the city, would soon be relocated to Raj Bhavan Square to make way for a Rs 80-crore Smart Janpath project.
The Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited (BSCL) had proposed relocation of the sculpture as part of the development works near Master Canteen. The decision to shift the statue was approved at a meeting on June 8 by the Culture Department.
Meanwhile, BJP leader and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday also disapproved of the decision to relocate the statue and urged the State administration to launch beautification of Master Canteen Square by retaining the sculpture as it is now a cultural symbol of the State capital city.