To Aid Beautification Drive For Kumbh Mela, Yogi Adityanath Government Removes Jawaharlal Nehru’s Statue 

In the ongoing beautification work being held in Allahabad for the upcoming Kumbh Mela scheduled for January 2019, a statue of Jawaharlal Nehru was removed from Balsan Chauraha in the city. Congress is furious at the move, reports Zee News.

Samajwadi Party, too has joined the protesting Congress workers, alleging, "that the statue has been removed intentionally." The report says, "They stopped the crane and raised slogans against Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath." The workers have asked the authorities why a statue of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay on the same road has not been removed if removing statues is for beautification of the city.

The report adds, "Congress has alleged that by removing the statue, placed near Anand Bhawan, the government is conspiring to do away with Nehru's ideologies which will not be tolerated."

Officials have not revealed the details of the move and have maintained that the "roads have to be broadened in view of the Kumbh Mela and Nehru's statue was in the middle of the road and hence had to be removed." Zee reports that Nehru's statue, meanwhile, has been placed at a nearby park.

A report in Jansatta has noted that the move could be seen as part of Bharatiya Janata Party’s move towards a “Congress-mukt Bharat.”