Touted to be the country’s tallest, a 12-feet statue of communist leader Vladimir Lenin was unveiled at the Communist Party of India (Marxist)‘s office at Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu today (22 January).

The statue has been raised as a reaction to the razing of another 11-feet statue of the leader in Tripura last year after the BJP stormed to power in the state. Left parties allege that BJP supporters were behind the razing and the new statue is an apt tribute to the leader.

Speaking about the statue, party district secretary K G Bhaskaran said, “When right-wing fanatics pulled down Lenin’s statue in Belonia in South Tripura in March last, after we lost the battle of the ballot, we were deeply wounded and vowed to install the revolutionary leader’s statue here in Tirunelveli.”

The statue has been built at a cost of Rs 4 lakh, collected from the party cadre and its principal sculptor, Chandru.

“Lenin’s statue will be the biggest statue of a political leader in Tamil Nadu and the biggest Lenin statue in India,” Chandru said.

The statue stands atop a 7-feet pedestal and commemorates 100 years of Lenin’s ‘November Revolution’ which fell on 7 November last year.