Bengaluru, December 27: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has raised objections to senior Congress leader DK Shivakumar "donating" 10-acre land for the construction of world's tallest statue of Jesus Christ at Kapalaa Hills of Haarobele village in Kanakapura taluk. The move by the senior Congress leader has raised a political storm in the state, with BJP leaders attacking Shivakumar and the Congress leader hitting back at BJP. The BJP state government has also ordered an inquiry into the land deal. DK Shivakumar Arrest: Congress Leader to Remain in ED Custody Till September 17.

DK Shivakumar was part of the ceremony and offered prayers at the site where work for the statue began. He represents the constituency under which the village falls. His brother and local MP DK Suresh was part of the ceremony as well. Shivakumar and his brother handed over the papers related to the land to the local church. The church has the right to execute the project. 'DK Shivakumar Evasive, Gave Irrelevant Answers': ED Tells Court, Seeks Further Custody.

However, the ruling BJP came down heavily on the Congress leader for donating the land for the statue and alleged that it was not under D Shivakumar's right to donate the land as it is a government land. Senior BJP leader KS Eshwarappa said that, “Congressmen who opposed the construction of the Ram Mandir, have gone out of their way to create a statue of Jesus who was born in the Vatican.”

He then defended his tweet saying, “If the move to erect the statue is to take everybody along, it is a welcome move but this is an attempt to woo Christian votes. He (Sivakumar) claims he is a follower of Kempe Gowda and a devotee of Adi Chunchingiri Mutt Swami, then why not their statue? I am not objecting to the Christ statue but there are several gods in Hindu pantheon, it would be good if he turned his attention to them too.”

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 28, 2019 12:01 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).