Lucknow, June 27: The Congress and the Samajwadi Party are facing off over a plan to relocate a statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Rampur, even as BJP leaders courted arrest over the shifting of a statue of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, the Jan Sangh ideologue and a beacon for the Sangh parivar.

The district administration in Rampur had moved the statue of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, allegedly clandestinely, from the Civil Lines area and installed it on the side of the road, sparking a week-long agitation by the BJP. Today, thousands of BJP MP, MLAs and other workers ? led by former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh and party general secretary Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi ? courted arrest against the shifting.

“This time, the Rahe Raza Road crossing (on which Mahatma Gandhi’s statue stands) could see an outpouring of anger from Congress workers. The news of the plan (to shift the statue) that filtered down to Rampur has already been causing tension,” said Begum Noor Bano, a former Congress MP and a member of the royal family of Rampur. “We don’t see why the statue of the Mahatma has to be removed from Rahe Raza. People have strong sentiments attached to it,” said the former MP.

Congress members in Rampur have initiated a signature campaign against the move to relocate the statue, especially as the pedestal is said to contain his “holy ashes”.

“We have learnt of the state government’s move to shift the statue. If it happens without our knowledge, all hell will break loose in Rampur,” said state Congress spokesperson, Akhilesh Pratap Singh.

The district administration plans to move the statue from Rahe Raza Road to a park about 2 km away so that the main thoroughfare can be broadened. “There should not be any apprehension and confusion about the shifting of Mahatma’s statue. It is required for the beautification of the city,” said Azam Khan, the Uttar Pradesh minister for urban development.

“The shifting would not insult or humiliate the image of the great leader. The statue may be relocated in a park and beautified,” the minister said, adding that the state government has made a special financial allocation for this.

The royal family of Rampur recalled that when the ashes of the Mahatma were being sent across the country, the Nawabs had brought some of it in a special saloon for constructing a samadhi.

The Mahatma reportedly had a special place in the hearts of the people in Rampur which he had visited in 1919. “Millions in Rampur waited at the station and along the road leading to it to have a glimpse of the ashes. The train carrying ashes had to crawl between Moradabad and Rampur,” said a member of the royal family.

Khan’s beautification plan has also been criticised by some Samajwadi leaders in Rampur like Kazim Ali Khan. “He is out to undo what took years for Nawabs to do in Rampur,” the Samajwadi leader said. However, the minister countered that the move was essential in view of the road congestion.