Bhopal, March 2 Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and senior Congress leader, Digvijaya Singh, said on Sunday that he was scheduled to unveil a statue of legendary tribal leader and freedom fighter Tantya Mama in Guna district, however, the state administration stopped the event at the last minute.
He added that he was scheduled to unveil the statue of Tanya Mama at a Bhil tribal-dominated village in Raghogarh of Guna district on March 3, but the area was barricaded by the state administration.
The former CM said when he spoke to Raghogarh Sub-Divisional Magistrate and Guna District Collector and sought to know the reason, he was informed that action has been taken because of lack of no objection certificate (NOC) from the state administration for installing the statue.
He added that Pipaliya village, where Tantya Mama's statue has been installed, has a sizable population of Bhil tribals.
They collected money to install the statue of Tanya Mama to pay tribute to him, he said.
"Statue was installed after obtaining NOC from Pipliya grampanchayat. The Guna district administration and Raghogarh district adminstration was informed about the development," Singh said in a video statement on Sunday.
The former CM also said that on March 1, a team of Guna district administration visited the spot and barricaded the area.
"I was shocked to know the Guna district administration's action. I have asked the administration to show the guidelines for installing statue," he said.
Singh claimed that administration said the Supreme Court and Madhya Pradesh High Court (in different cases) have put a ban on installing statues or construction work in public roads, pavements, sideways and other public utility places.
"If Madhya Pradesh government has prepared any guideline for this purpose after 2013, they should provide it to me. We will comply with rules and the statue will be unveiled accordingly," he said.
The Congress leader also alleged that stopping the unveiling of the statue was an insult to Tantya Mama and tribal community.
He warned that the Congress will hold a protest against it if needed.
--IANS
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