The statue is ready. The pedestal was prepared long ago. Yet politics continues over the installation of Maharaja Jagaddipendra Narayan's statue in Cooch Behar. Although the complications were resolved three months ago with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's intervention, discussions have begun within Trinamool about why the statue has still not been installed.
Recently, a Trinamool meeting was held at Cooch Behar Rabindra Bhavan. In that meeting, North Bengal Development Minister Udayan Guha brought up the statue issue. He mentioned all the incidents that had occurred regarding the installation of this statue. The question arose in the meeting about why the statue is still not being installed. However, the minister declined to say anything about this in front of the media.
Why the delay in installing the statue?
Cooch Behar Municipality Chairman Rabindranath Ghosh says, "Railings will have to be put around the pedestal where the statue will be placed. A small garden will be made. After that work is done, the statue will be installed. The tender for that has been done. In total, it will be work worth 1 lakh 90 thousand rupees."
'The Cooch Behar Royal Family Successors Welfare Trust' spokesperson Kumar Mridul Narayan says, "I have inquired with the municipality about why the statue has not been installed yet. The statue should be installed before any fresh controversy begins." The municipality had to struggle to install Maharaja Jagaddipendra Narayan's statue in front of the North Bengal Development Department in Coochbehar. A cold war began between Udayan and Rabi over this matter.
Later, when people at various levels protested about this, the problem was resolved with the Chief Minister's intervention. She even directed that the statue be installed at the location fixed by the municipality. After that, on July 14, ground-breaking ceremony was performed with great fanfare before the statue installation work began. That day, the municipality chairman had announced that work would begin now. The statue would be installed within 8-10 days. That statue has also arrived. Even after three months have passed, the work is still not completed. Has some fresh complication arisen? Rabi says, "There is no need to answer what someone said from outside. The municipality board will decide when the statue will be installed."
