From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore
Bangalore, Jun 6: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah laid the foundation stone for a 27ft height bronze statue of meditating Mahatma Gandhi at a park located between Vidhana Soudha and Vikasa Soudha on Friday.
He also unveiled a statue of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri erected on the Secretariat premises.
Siddaramiaah recalled the contributions of Gandhi, Shastri and Devaraj Urs and said their work and ideas were still relevant today.
A 27ft height bronze statue of the meditating Mahatma Gandhi will be unveiled on Vidhana Soudha premises on Gandhi Jayanthi day on October 2, 2014.
The statue, which is being designed and chiseled by renowned sculptor and Padmashree awardee Ram V Sutar, will cost Rs 11 crore.
Earlier, the Chief Minister, Karantaka Legislative Council Chairman D H Shankaramurthy, State Assembly Speaker Kagodu Thimmappa and Cabinet ministers paid floral tributes to former Chief Minister late Devaraj Urs on his 32 death anniversary.
Legislative Council Chairman D H Shankaramurthy said a committee headed by him has decided to install the statue after over two dozen meeting in the last three years.
As the two secretariat buildings were 66 ft height, the Chief Architect of the Public Works Department had suggested installation of statue of 27 ft on 13 ft pedestal facing towards High Court, he said.
The statue designed by Ram Sutar Creations Private Limited, Noida.
The 89-year-old Sutar's first work of note was the 45 feet Chambal monument at the Gandhi Sagar Dam in Madhya Pradesh.
The most well known among his works is the bust of Mahatama Gandhi that he sculpted, which is instantly recognisable worldwide, and copies of it were presented by the Central Government to countries such as France, Italy, Russia and England.
The idea about installing the statue was first mooted by former Council Chairman V R Sudarshan in 2011 and later the House passed a resolution on installing the statue.
The High Court had banned installation of statues within the limits of Cubbon Park.
By amending the Karnataka Government Parks (Preservation) Act in 2013, the State Government armed itself with power to take up works within the Cubbon Park that covers Vidhana Soudha, Vikasa Soudha and Legislators’ Home.
Now, the Act transferred the land to the control of the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (DPAR), the Chairman said.
A statue of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri would also be unveiled on Friday on the secretariat premises.