New Delhi: Devotion to the first family in Congress is well known, but a party MLA from Andhra Pradesh has taken it to another level.
As a token of his gratitude to party president Sonia Gandhi for the Centre's decision to create a separate Telangana state, Secunderabad Cantt MLA P Shankar Rao is building a temple for her where her nine-feet statue would be installed soon.
Rao's 'Goddess Sonia' statue, depicting her as 'Telangana Talli' (Telangana mother) as a thank-you will be installed at what Dr Rao intends to call the 'Sonia Gandhi Shanti Vanam', in a patch of land near the Bangalore-Hyderabad highway registered in his daughter Sushmitha's name.
The statue made of bronze and weighing 500 kg is being crafted by a national award-winning sculptor who, incidentally, belongs to the Seemandhra region that is vehemently opposed to Telangana.
Work on the statue began on December 9, Sonia Gandhi's birthday. It also happens to be the date on which then Union home minister P Chidambaram made a midnight announcement on Telangana in 2009.
The legislator claims he has the blessings of some Congress leaders at the Centre for his project. "We have shown the prototype of the idol to be installed and got it approved,'' he says.
The Congressman's shrine will have Sonia Gandhi join the ranks of prominent faces like Khushboo, MG Ramachandran and Amitabh Bachchan who have temples in their name.
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