BENGALURU : The Karnataka government on Monday indicated that it will go ahead with its plans to build a 120-feet statue of Swamy Vivekananda near Bengaluru.
The decision to build a statue has met with sharp criticism from opposition parties, that have accused the B.S.Yediyurappa-led government of misplaced priorities. "It is not government's money (but) housing board money is used to construct the statue," V.Somanna, Karnataka's minister for housing said on Monday.
The government had announced to build the statue on the lines of the one of Sardar Vallabhai Patel or Statue of Unity in Gujarat.
Somanna has tried to justify the construction stating that it would replicate the success of bringing in more tourists and revenues to the state.