Former PM Narasimha Rao's statue proposal gets advisory body's green signal, Centre’s nod awaited

Narasimha Rao served as PM between 1991 and 1996. (File photo)

The proposal to install a statue of late Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao in New Delhi has received a nod of the advisory board and now awaits the approval from the Centre.

The development comes months before Rao's birth anniversary on June 28. The statue is proposed to be installed at the Telangana Bhavan in the national capital.

The proposal “for the installation of a statue of P V Narasimha Rao at the Telangana Bhavan, forwarded by the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), was approved”, according to the minutes of a meeting convened by the Delhi Urban Art Commission (DUAC) on March 27, Indian Express reported.

The commission, that approved the proposal, also recommended the repair of broken pavements around the proposed site and suitable lighting to be installed to ensure it is visible at night.

“The proposal is not the NDMC’s and the council is yet to take a call on it,” NDMC chairperson Keshav Chandra told The Indian Express.

If the proposal gets a go ahead from the Centre, it would be the third honour to be bestowed upon the former PM by the BJP-led NDA government. In 2015, the Union government had approved a memorial for Rao at Ekta Sthal in the Rajghat Complex. In 2024, it conferred the Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian honour, on him posthumously in February 2024.

Narasimha Rao served as PM between 1991 and 1996 and was the first Congressman outside the Nehru-Gandhi family to have almost completed his full tenure. As PM, he oversaw the liberalisation of the economy in 1991, and it was during his tenure that the Babri Masjid was demolished in 1992. He also served as the Congress president during this period.

What is DUAC?

The Delhi Urban Art Commission (DUAC) was set up in 1973 by an act of Parliament to advise the Union government on the “matter of preserving, developing and maintaining the aesthetic quality of urban and environmental design within Delhi” and advise any local body about any project that could “affect the skyline or the aesthetic quality of the surroundings”.