Karnataka: BJP government plans 120-feet Swami Vivekanand statue near Bengaluru. (Representational pic)

Vivekananda statue, Karnataka news: The Congress party has opposed the Karnataka government’s decision to install a 120-feet Swami Vivekanand statue on the lines of the State of Unity in Gujarat. Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar has questioned the priorities of the government, saying “this is not time for such type of activities”.

“This BJP government in Karnataka doesn’t have priority, what has to be done. Now it is not the time to build any statue. It is time to sort out the problems of the state. The state has to be developed. Look at the problems of migrants, labourers, farmers and all the sectors. Till today, the CM hasn’t called a meeting of bankers, farmers. Not a single rupee has reached any farmer, labourer or anyone who have been doing professionally their jobs. Not even a single rupee has reached a driver,” he said.

“Now coming with a statue, it is laughable. Better to stop it. Let’s do it, whatever you want, when the government has sufficient funds but not at this point of time. I am telling you, this is not the time for such type of activities. This is the only time to save the people of state and country,” Shivakumar said.

Inspired by the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s Statue of Unity in Gujarat, the BJP government in Karnataka has proposed a statue of Swami Vivekananda. The 120-feet tall statue will come up near the Muthyala Maduvu water body in Jigani on the outskirts of Bengaluru. It will be spread in an area covering three acres of plot.

The statue is a part of the Karnataka Housing Board’s (KHB) plan to develop Muthyala Maduvu as a tourist destination.