India News | Statues in Assembly Complex: Bajwa Seeks Action Against Punjab Officials for 'hiding' Facts

Chandigarh, Mar 24 (PTI) Congress MLA Partap Singh Bajwa on Thursday sought action against Punjab officials for "concealing" from the chief minister that statues can't be installed in the Assembly complex.

Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann in the just-concluded Assembly session had announced that statues of legendary freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, Dr B R Ambedkar and first Sikh ruler Maharaja Ranjit Singh will be installed in the Vidhan Sabha.

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The House on March 22 passed a resolution in this regard.

The Qadian MLA said he entered into the discussion in the Assembly in good faith believing that the government had done the groundwork for the installation of the statues.

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"The state Assembly is part of the Chandigarh Capitol Complex, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site, therefore, such modifications to the building can be done only after permissions from the competent authority," he said in a statement.

Bajwa said according to the Edict of Chandigarh, written by legendary French architect Le Corbusier, statues cannot be erected in Chandigarh.

"The Edict of Chandigarh by Le Corbusier does not allow for personal statues to be built in Chandigarh," he said.

"These facts should have been brought forward to the House so as to give MLAs a proper understanding of the situation. Every legislator in the House on March 22 has been misled by the government with regards to the resolution," said Bajwa.

"This has created an embarrassing situation for all of us, not for the first time in this case," he said, adding that the UT Administration had rejected a similar proposal in 2016.

"Such a major faux pas is unwelcome. The officers in-charge in drafting the resolution put forward to the House must be held accountable for concealing such information to the chief minister. I urge the Hon'ble Chief Minister to take stern action," demanded Bajwa.

Meanwhile, UT Chief Architect Kapil Setia said according to the Edict of Chandigarh, which was written by Le Corbusier, who designed the city, statues of humans cannot be erected and roads cannot be named after any person.

This Edict of Chandigarh was notified in the master plan of Chandigarh, he said.

Moreover, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) gave heritage status to the Capitol Complex, which includes the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the Assembly, and the secretariat.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)