'Nehru statue in Allahabad shifted due to road widening'

The statue of India's first Prime Minister, Jawahar Lal Nehru, installed in a park at Balsan Crossing, has been shifted to a nearby spot, in order to widen the road for Kumbh Mela next year, the Allahabad Development Authority clarified on Friday.

"Due to broadening of the road near the park at Balsan Crossing, in view of upcoming Kumbh Mela, former Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru ji's statue had to be shifted. The statue was shifted barely 30 meters away from its original spot and with full respect and honour," a statement read.

The response comes after the statue was seen being shifted by a crane, which, the Congress alleged, was being done deliberately to do away with the former prime minister's ideology.

Congress party spokesperson Tom Vadakkan said that irrespective of the number of statues that are removed, Jawahar Lal Nehru, who was a Congress party leader, will always remain in the hearts of people.

"They can remove any statue of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru but Pandit Ji is engraved in the hearts of Indians. You may do all you want but the reality is he is engraved in our hearts," he told ANI.

Last month, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to keep the Teen Murti memorial, dedicated to the memory of Jawaharlal Nehru, undisturbed out of respect for history and heritage.

The letter was written after reports suggested that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Central Government was planning to turn the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library into a memorial for all the prime ministers of the country.