Eyebrows raised at Leader’s ‘lifeless’ statue

Thiruvananthapuram: The life-size statue of the late K. Karunakaran, former Chief Minister and Congress leader, which was  unveiled by President Pranab Mukherjee here on  Friday, does not resemble him. 

This has been pointed out by Padmaja Venugopal, Karunakaran’s daughter and KPCC general secretary, and K. Muraleedharan,  his son and Congress MLA. Padmaja Venugopal said  the face of the statue does not  look like her father. “It lacks his trade-mark pearly smile. I think my father was  handsome. I have brought the defect to the notice of the KPCC,” she added.

Muraleedharan  said that he too had pointed out the mistake earlier. The 12.5-foot statue was made  by a sculptor from Thiruvananthapuram, K. S.  Sidhan, who was quick to accept the criticism.
He said he was asked to complete the work in time for the President to unveil it coinciding with his visit.

“The time was limited and I had to rush through with it.  I have promised the leaders’ wards that I would make necessary changes to the face at the earliest,”  Sidhan said.