A political row has erupted between the ruling Congress and the BJP over the installation of statues in Bengaluru, one of Bhuvaneshwari, the patron deity of Karnataka, and the other of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. In 2011, the then Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa had announced at the 77th All-India Kannada Sahitya Sammelana that the statue of Bhuvaneswhari would be installed, at a cost of Rs 25 crore, in the state capital. Bangalore University had offered 10 acres of land for the statue, with a proposal to build a centre for Kannada learning and research around it, though some Syndicate members had initially opposed the idea on the ground that the varsity should not turn into a destination for religious tourism. Over the years, the government considered various locations including Freedom Park, Race Course Road, and Hebbal Lake. Finally, in 2022, a full decade after the initial announcement, the BJP government zeroed in on a piece of land adjacent to Bangalore University and promised that the statue would be inaugurated by January 2023. Bhuvaneshwari is yet to see the light of day. Meanwhile, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has called for a tender for the installation of a bronze statue of Rajiv Gandhi at a cost of Rs 1.05 crore. The new statue is to replace an existing one, made of concrete, at Seshadripuram Junction.
The BJP has accused the Congress government of stalling work on the statue of Bhuvaneshwari and thereby hurting the sentiments of Kannadigas. Kannada and Culture Minister Shivananda Tangadagi says the Bhuvaneshwari statue project has not been shelved, and has instead accused the previous BJP government of not releasing money for the project during its years in power. The politics of statues is a recent phenomenon in Karnataka, with political parties seeking to appease voters of different communities. Sometime ago, the Prime Minister unveiled a 108-ft bronze statue of Kempegowda, the founder of Bengaluru, built at a cost of Rs 84 crore. Former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had laid the foundation stone for statues of Kempegowda and the 12th century social reformer Basavanna at Vidhana Soudha. Bommai had also promised that a108-ft statue of Basavanna would be installed on the banks of the Ghataprabha river in Belagavi district.
Statues are wasteful expenditure. They do not serve any useful purpose, except pandering to different vote banks. Instead, the government should build schools, hospitals, and other public assets in the name of those it seeks to honour. There is surely no point in installing idols when ideals are forgotten. The Congress as the ruling party must be especially respectful of prevailing public sentiment with regard to statues and naming its pet projects and schemes.