Congress leader threatens to raze statues put up by BJP govt in Uttarakhand when voted to power

Angry over the renaming of Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium to Dehradun International Arena, Uttarakhand Congress leader Indira Hridayesh has threatened to remove every name and raze every statue put up by the BJP government.

The Congress had earlier warned the government against such a move, but the BJP administration on Saturday signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the stadium’s management with a private company for years and later announced that the stadium would be now known as Dehradun International Arena.

A visibly indignant Hridayesh, who is the leader of opposition, threatened that the Congress, when voted to power, would change all the names and raze statues put up by the government.

“How can they do this? The BJP would have to pay for what they have done. We want to tell them that if we are voted to power, then we would remove every name and raze every statue put by them during their rule. Above all, Rajiv Gandhi was no ordinary person. He was the prime minister of this country who made the supreme sacrifice for it,” Hridayesh said.

She said they would hold protests across the state and raise the issue in the next assembly session.

“If they want to name something, then they should construct a new project. But why do they interfere in the works done by our government?” she asked.

The BJP not only justified the move but also questioned the “contributions of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi to the country”.

“What is the contribution of Rajiv Gandhi to this country that the stadium should be named after him?” asked state urban development minister Madan Kaushik.

Moreover, he said, Congress has got no issues because of which it is doing “such cheap politics”. “It should be ashamed of raising a voice against changing the name of stadium after they changed the name of whole state from Uttaranchal to Uttarakhand during their rule,” he said.

Spread over 23 acres and built at a cost of ₹237 crore, the stadium was inaugurated in December 2016.

The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) and Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) have agreed to a three-match T20 series — the first international match in Dehradun, to be held on June 3, 5 and 7.