Mail News Service
Jamshedpur, Nov 28: The controversy surrounding the inauguration of Khudiram Bose statue at the Mango Chowk has finally been resolved. After talks with the protestors it has now been decided to add the names of BJP MP of Jamshedpur Bidyut Baran Mahato and former late BJP MLA of Jamshedpur (West) MP Singh to the statue’s plaque.
Resolution was reached on Monday afternoon after senior Tata Steel UISL officials headed by senior GM Dhananjay Mishra spoke to BJP’s city unit president Gunjan Yadav. The dialogue ended with an assurance from the company that along with Gupta, the names of Mahato and Singh will be included in the inaugural plaque within a week.
The inauguration of the statue near the Mango roundabout ran into trouble on Saturday as political parties clashed over who should be the one to have the honour of unveiling the effigy. Initially, the MLA of Jamshedpur (West) and state’s health minister Banna Gupta was invited by the Tata Steel UISL to inaugurate the statue.
But, soon after the inauguration, BJP workers gathered at the spot and started protesting aggressively against the event and demanding that Mahato should have also been invited to the programme. The protestors also insisted that Singh’s name also should be included since he was the then MLA of Jamshedpur (West) and had played an instrumental role to get the statue installed at the Mango Chowk. Later, Mahato also reached the spot to register his protest and also gave an ultimatum that the oversight should be rectified and his name should be included in the plaque within the next 48 hours.
When the statue of Khudiram Bose was set up on the Mango roundabout, the size of the roundabout was considered ungainly. Later, it was decided to restructure the roundabout to a smaller size and relocate the statue to a spot on the road divider.
On Saturday, November 26, when protests erupted immediately after the inauguration of the newly relocated statue, the situation turned even more volatile when some Congress workers reached the spot and opposed the protesting BJP workers. Police had to intervene to keep the incident from turning violent. Traffic too was thrown out of gear at this busy crossroads owing to the protests and demonstrations.