Patna, April 16: Chief minister Nitish Kumar has everything planned for propagating the revival of the erstwhile Janata Party ahead of the Assembly elections in Bihar.
Two days after the announcement of the merger of six Janata party descendants, Nitish would lay the foundation stone for a statue of former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar, who was also the first and founding president of the Janata Party that came out of Jayaprakash Narayan-led Sampoorna Kranti (Total Revolution), at Kankerbagh on Friday.
The cabinet today decided to celebrate Chandra Shekhar's birth anniversary as state function every year.
However, the Opposition parties in Bihar have accused Nitish of politicising in the name of the socialist icon.
Anti-Nitish leaders, including Jitan Ram Manjhi loyalist Nitish Mishra, and senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi have claimed that he is using the name of the socialist icon only for political mileage. The BJP also raised the matter in the Assembly on Thursday slamming the state government for not inviting local MLA Arun Kumar Sinha in the foundation-laying ceremony.
"Erecting the statue of Chandra Shekhar is not objectionable but Nitish should not ignore other prominent public figures as well. For instance, the state government under the NDA alliance had proposed to build a statue of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya in a park at road number-3 at Rajendra Nagar but the plan was dropped soon after the BJP came out of the government. Similar plans of erecting statues of Shailendra Nath Srivastava and Pandit Ramnarayan Shastri at different locations in Patna have also been dropped by the Nitish government," said former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi.
Nitish Mishra also made similar allegations against the chief minister. "It is an irony of our democracy that big leaders don't even spare the iconic figures for gaining political mileage. Chandra Shekhar's statue is being erected merely six months before the elections just to propagate the socialist ideologies (of the Janata parivar). Why hasn't the state government ever organised big celebrations on Chandra Shekhar Jayanti (anniversary), if at all they have such high regards for the socialist icon," said Mishra.
The statue would be constructed at an upcoming park at Kankerbagh to be constructed by Bihar State Building Construction Corporation Limited.<>
Officials in BSBCCL informed that the Chandra Shekhar statue is scheduled to be unveiled on July 8 to mark his eighth death anniversary.
"The statue of the former Prime Minister would be made of bronze and it would be 6ft high. The park, in which the statue would be erected, is spread over four acres and it would have several amenities, including the playground and the pathway. The estimated outlay for the park project, including the statue is Rs 1.9crore," said a senior BSBCCL official.
Born on July 1, 1927, Chandra Shekhar's journey as a parliamentarian started in 1962, when he was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh.
He joined the Congress in 1964 but vehemently criticised Indira Gandhi for her activities thereafter, because of which he was sent to the Patiala Jail during the Emergency in 1975.
Immediately after the Emergency, Chandra Shekhar became the first president of Janata Party, floated in 1977. He served as Prime Minister for a brief period between November 10, 1990 and March 6, 1991.
