NEW DELHI: A portion of an under-construction statue of Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mukherjee on Sukia Street in north Kolkata was allegedly vandalised overnight, police said on Sunday.A worker who arrived at the site in the morning found the statue’s tile and nameplate damaged. “When I came here in the morning, I saw that the tile and nameplate of the statue was broken. I left from here around 7 pm yesterday and came here this morning at 10 am,” he told ANI.Reacting to the incident, West Bengal Minister Sharadwat Mukherjee condemned the alleged vandalism, saying the nationalist leader’s legacy remains deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.“Every citizen of West Bengal knows due to whom we are living in West Bengal today. If Syama Prasad Mukherjee had not been there, we would still be living in Bangladesh… We will not be affected by such incidents because Syama Prasad Mookerjee resides in the hearts of our people,” he told ANI.The incident comes ahead of Union home minister Amit Shah’s visit to Kolkata on Monday to attend programmes marking Mukherjee’s birth anniversary. The right-wing was born in Kolkata on July 6, 1901.During his visit, Shah is expected to lay the foundation stone for a proposed 125-foot statue of Mukherjee at his ancestral home in Jirat, Hooghly district, and attend a commemorative programme at the Biswa Bangla Mela Ground.The Suvendu Adhikari-led BJP government in West Bengal has also declared public holiday on July 6 to mark Mukherjee’s 125th birth anniversary.
