Patna,(BiharTimes): Whether Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar is really trying to take credit for the proposed construction of world’s tallest temple in East Champaran or not, the media has certainly started making its comparison with the Narendra Modi government’s effort to build tallest statue of Sardar Patel. Some of them have started highlighting it in a way as if the Bihar CM wants to neutralize the publicity given to the construction of statue of first deputy Prime Minister of the country.

Former deputy chief minister and BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi was quick to issue his statement on Twtter by stating that the temple was not the brainchild of Nitish but of the former IPS officer, Kishore Kunal, who is the Chairman of Religious Trust Board.

“Some media are comparing the ‘Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel’ statue being set up in Gujarat with the proposed ‘Virat Ramayan Mandir’ in Bihar, trying to show competition between Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar, which is baseless,” the message said.

“While the building of Ramayan Mandir, which will be the world’s tallest temple has nothing to do with Bihar government whereas Patel’s statue in Gujarat is the brainchild of Narendra Modi and sponsored by the Gujarat government,” the message further said.

The Ramayan temple is 495 feet high, which is certainly not as taller as Sardar Patel’s statue of 182 metres. The temple would be built on 140 acres of land at Kesaria in East Champaran district. It would be 2,800 feet long and 1,400 feet wide.

The unveiling of the model of the proposed temple jointly by Shankaracharya of Dwarka, Swaroopanand Saraswati Maharaj and Nitish in Mahavir Mandir near Patna railway station on Wednesday has become a debating point in the media. But the truth is that the proposed construction was planned a couple of years back––when BJP was in power––in Vaishali district. 

The planning of the temple has been done by a leading Gujarati architect and will be built at an estimated cost something between Rs 300 crore and Rs 500 crore.