Bengaluru, Dec. 28, 2019: A Hindu politician’s plan to build the world’s tallest statue of Christ has run into trouble after some radicals raised objections.

Doddalahalli Kempegowda Shivakumar, popularly known as D K Shivakumar and a leader of the opposition Congress party in Karnataka state, has pledged to build the 114-foot-tall Jesus statue at Harobele in Ramanagara, some 80 km south of the state capital of Bengaluru.

On December 27, a day after Shivakumar, a former minister and currently a legislator, laid the foundation stone for the statue, the Karnataka government said it would review all land allotments made during the time of the previous government, a coalition of the Congress and a regional party.

The pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party now heads the state’s current coalition government

The proposed ‘tallest’ statue of Jesus Christ is threatening to snowball into the tallest controversy yet, reports the Bangalore Mirror daily.

Karnataka Law Minister J C Madhuswamy said that there was a need to review the government land allotments during the time of the previous government.

The proposed project is coming up on a 10-acre land in the backdrop of Kapali Betta (mountain). The Congress leader has paid the money to the land allotted by the previous government and is funding the project too.

BJP leaders have slammed him for the decision and said that those who oppose construction of a Ram Temple are erecting a statue of Jesus statute to please his Italian origin leader in an obvious reference to Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

“#Tihar returned gentleman is installing the biggest Jesus statute to impress his Italian origin leader. There is nowonder if more slaves in the Congress get into a competition of appeasing politics,” Uttara Kannada Lok Sabha member Anant Kumar Hegde tweeted and asked Congress leaders to give up slavery and come out of the Congress.

Rural Development Minister K S Eshwarappa said that Congress leaders who opposed building a temple for Lord Ram, who was born in India, were ready to fund construction of a statue of Jesus.

In a hurry, Eshwarappa, however, mentioned that Jesus was born in Vatican instead of Bethlehem. He sarcastically remarked that even former chief minister Siddaramaiah cannot stop him (Shivakumar) from becoming the KPCC president.

Shivakumar is in the race for the top party post in Karnataka after incumbent Dinesh Gundurao resigned following a near rout in the by-elections to the 15 Assembly seats. The Congress could win just two seats.

Shivakumar, however, hit back at BJP leaders and said that he has built several temples in various places in Karnataka and donated land for building government schools, colleges and even a stadium in Mysuru.

Defending the decision to erect a statue of Jesus, Shivakumar said that there are at least 100 Christian priests in Harobele while there is at least one nun from each of the houses here. He said that the land allotment was approved by the Cabinet.

“There is no illegality in this,” he said, adding that he couldn’t pay the money earlier for getting the land as he was in jail. “I didn’t want anyone else to pay for it,” he said, recalling how he had stopped Christian priests from erecting a statue on government land two years ago.

Source: bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com