NEW DELHI: A larger-than-life statue of 18th century Sikh ruler and martyr Baba Banda Singh Bahadur has been installed near the Mandi House Metro station. The face of the statue is covered as it awaits a formal inauguration. It stands perched atop a pedestal within Nabha House, a Punjab government property on Sikandra Road.With AAP aggressively campaigning for the Punjab polls scheduled early next year, the move to set up the statue in Delhi by Shiromani Akali Dali (Badal) can be seen as an attempt to reach out to the Sikh voters. At present, SAD (Badal) is the ruling party in Punjab.The Delhi unit of SAD (Badal) said its demand to erect a statue at a DDA park in Mehrauli was rejected by the AAP government in May on grounds that this proposal was not permissible, according to MHA guidelines and a Supreme Court order. Following this, SAD (Badal) decided to install the statue at a site owned by the Punjab government.Punjab deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal is likely to unveil the statue some time this week. The AAP government had earlier this year drawn criticism when it decided to rename the Barapullah elevated corridor after Baba Banda Singh Bahadur. CM Arvind Kejriwal was accused of renaming the corridor for political gains in Punjab by opponents.The statue built at a cost of Rs 65 lakh is 17 ft tall and placed atop a pedestal at a height of 22 feet from the ground. “When the Delhi government did not give us permission for setting up the statue at the DDA park in Mehrauli, SAD decided to install it at Nabha House. The statue has been set up with the approval from the Punjab government’s cultural department,” SAD (BAdal) Delhi unit president and Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee chief Manjeet Singh GK told TOI.The Punjab government is keen to unveil the statue at the earliest and well before the code of conduct for the polls comes into effect.